Moordown U16's 2 Greenfields U16's 2
Sunday 2nd March 2014
Venue: Pelhams Park
'Winston Churchill, Maggie Thatcher, Martin Peters, Bobby Charlton........your boys took one hell of a beating!!' Alright, to get some perspective, it was only Moordown away, in the BYFL, and a 2-2 draw (not a victory), but the imagery that is conjured up in the midst of such a gutsy and spirited performance, gets the imagination running wild! Quite simply, we were superb to a man....but lets not get ahead of ourselves.....We have to bear in mind that Moordown are the reigning league champions; that we haven't earned a legitimate point since the second game of the season; that when we have played well before we have still come off second best in terms of the result; everything today pointed to a home banker. Ok, the scene is set...
In quite atrocious conditions with driving rain and a swirling wind against us in the first half, we started brightly. We pushed them back in that first 10 minutes or so, and found each other with crisp passes; they had to be crisp as the mud bath formed nicely as the half progressed. Moordown had their moments and Jake made a couple of fine saves to keep the scores level. But just when we seemed to have weathered the storm (no pun intended), we went a goal down in annoying circumstances. A corner from the right was taken short and a cross came over to the far post, was nodded back to the edge of the 6 yard box, and their striker couldn't miss. Although Moordown had built up some pressure, they hadn't created any clear cut chances up to that point, so the goal was out of character with the match; it was the one and only time that our superb defending deserted us.
But today's Greenfields model was built of sturdy stuff, and not for the final time in this match, we responded magnificently. On 32 minutes, after persistent work by Sam, Jeremy was sent clear through the inside right channel, and as the keeper came out, he drilled his shot low and hard into the far corner. 1-1 and we finished the half the stronger of the two sides.
We were clearly 'up for it', so all the more galling that we found ourselves 2-1 down within literally seconds of the restart. Their right winger rather fortuitously found the ball in his path after a ricochet and as he bore down on goal, he got his shot away, only to see it hit the base of Jake's right hand post. Unfortunately for us, it rebounded straight to their striker, who finished easily into the empty net. A cruel blow, but still we came out fighting. We found it hard to create any clear openings, but the effort levels went through the roof. In midfield, Alex was superbly industrious; Blessings was a dogged man mountain alongside him, whilst at the back, Charlie, Matt, Paul and Tom P were magnificent. Seb was a constant threat, Jeremy ran himself into the ground, Sam worked his socks off and with our subs Tom, Luke, Pa Madou, Michael and Jake playing an able supporting role, the performance was a joy to behold. But if forced to choose one player who completely personified our performance today, it was Macca. 'Never say die' wasn’t the half of it!
And now to the best bit.....despite completely outplaying Moordown at times, and defending like a team of Terry Butchers at other times, with a minute left, we still trailed 2-1. Enter Macca from stage right. Michael laid the ball off nicely into Macca's path, but at 30 yards out, the odds were stacked against him - not a bit of it. Pouncing on the ball and with sheer force of will taking him past two players, he unleashed an absolute screamer which, from where I was standing, you just knew had their keeper in trouble. As the ball fairly flew into the top right of the goal, the sense of justice and fist pumping excitement just transcended everything. As every player mobbed Macca in the centre of the mud (Matt getting a bloody nose in the process!), the silence from Moordown and their players was delicious.
There was barely time for the restart and as the referee blew the final whistle, you knew we had fully deserved a highly creditable draw. Brilliant - utterly brilliant.
Sunday 2nd March 2014
Venue: Pelhams Park
'Winston Churchill, Maggie Thatcher, Martin Peters, Bobby Charlton........your boys took one hell of a beating!!' Alright, to get some perspective, it was only Moordown away, in the BYFL, and a 2-2 draw (not a victory), but the imagery that is conjured up in the midst of such a gutsy and spirited performance, gets the imagination running wild! Quite simply, we were superb to a man....but lets not get ahead of ourselves.....We have to bear in mind that Moordown are the reigning league champions; that we haven't earned a legitimate point since the second game of the season; that when we have played well before we have still come off second best in terms of the result; everything today pointed to a home banker. Ok, the scene is set...
In quite atrocious conditions with driving rain and a swirling wind against us in the first half, we started brightly. We pushed them back in that first 10 minutes or so, and found each other with crisp passes; they had to be crisp as the mud bath formed nicely as the half progressed. Moordown had their moments and Jake made a couple of fine saves to keep the scores level. But just when we seemed to have weathered the storm (no pun intended), we went a goal down in annoying circumstances. A corner from the right was taken short and a cross came over to the far post, was nodded back to the edge of the 6 yard box, and their striker couldn't miss. Although Moordown had built up some pressure, they hadn't created any clear cut chances up to that point, so the goal was out of character with the match; it was the one and only time that our superb defending deserted us.
But today's Greenfields model was built of sturdy stuff, and not for the final time in this match, we responded magnificently. On 32 minutes, after persistent work by Sam, Jeremy was sent clear through the inside right channel, and as the keeper came out, he drilled his shot low and hard into the far corner. 1-1 and we finished the half the stronger of the two sides.
We were clearly 'up for it', so all the more galling that we found ourselves 2-1 down within literally seconds of the restart. Their right winger rather fortuitously found the ball in his path after a ricochet and as he bore down on goal, he got his shot away, only to see it hit the base of Jake's right hand post. Unfortunately for us, it rebounded straight to their striker, who finished easily into the empty net. A cruel blow, but still we came out fighting. We found it hard to create any clear openings, but the effort levels went through the roof. In midfield, Alex was superbly industrious; Blessings was a dogged man mountain alongside him, whilst at the back, Charlie, Matt, Paul and Tom P were magnificent. Seb was a constant threat, Jeremy ran himself into the ground, Sam worked his socks off and with our subs Tom, Luke, Pa Madou, Michael and Jake playing an able supporting role, the performance was a joy to behold. But if forced to choose one player who completely personified our performance today, it was Macca. 'Never say die' wasn’t the half of it!
And now to the best bit.....despite completely outplaying Moordown at times, and defending like a team of Terry Butchers at other times, with a minute left, we still trailed 2-1. Enter Macca from stage right. Michael laid the ball off nicely into Macca's path, but at 30 yards out, the odds were stacked against him - not a bit of it. Pouncing on the ball and with sheer force of will taking him past two players, he unleashed an absolute screamer which, from where I was standing, you just knew had their keeper in trouble. As the ball fairly flew into the top right of the goal, the sense of justice and fist pumping excitement just transcended everything. As every player mobbed Macca in the centre of the mud (Matt getting a bloody nose in the process!), the silence from Moordown and their players was delicious.
There was barely time for the restart and as the referee blew the final whistle, you knew we had fully deserved a highly creditable draw. Brilliant - utterly brilliant.
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