Match Report

We knew this was going to be a tough encounter, our last game the score flattered us, and Bridon were flying high in the league.

We, on the other hand were not, and we needed a fully committed squad to have any chance.

Danny was again enforced to make a couple of changes, a frustrating time for him I am sure, after a reasonable result last week. We arrived with 8 players, aware that two were probably lost and hoping two more would show. Not an ideal preparation for an important game. Then the usual struggle with socks and a nice pair of shorts that looked more like a dress on Chris it was ripped so badly showed how ‘macho’ we were! Oh yes then no keeper''s top, what more could go wrong?

No referee of course! How I have the bottle to tell people that ‘at this standard it is much more organised’...the worst start to a game that I can ever remember……..

Rubbish pitch, bobbly, windy and slopey, it was never going to be a pretty game of football. I could already see myself saying that ‘we didn’t deserve to lose, the pitch was rubbish, bobbly, windy and slopey!’ However a really battling performance saw us come out 1-0 to the good. The first half was a combination of robust defending from Chris, myself, Ian and Peter. Notably Chris’s no-nonsense tackling and Peter’s clearances giving short change to all that Bridon could throw at us. Much running by Matt upfront for all lost causes allowed us to put pressure on the Bridon defence, and good link up play on the right hand side of the park by David Goenaga, Chris G and Paul B was the only skill worth mentioning. After 35 minutes Dave Martin whipped in a trademark corner, that had the keeper flapping and in it went, messy but nothing more than we deserved. Mark Edwards in goal being made to tip one over the angle and gather bravely at his feet from a dipping shot, which were the only attacks that got through. Ian P and myself calmly cutting out all else in the air, and this wasn’t a game to try anything on the deck.

Danny urged the troops at half time to get more goals, Peter had a blazing shot hit the bar (of the goal behind!) and Dave Martin continued to ride the tackles on the left and get searching balls into the box, but we just couldn’t keep up with the strong wind to help support the forwards. A fantastic battling performance in midfield, especially in the second half, by Daragh and Sam Evans led to many a frustrated attack by Bridon being stifled by these two warriors, both of whom shared the spoils of MOM. Jas came on with 20 minutes remaining, giving a solid display on an awful bobbly, windy, and slopey pitch (you got the message yet!?!?!)

A gutsy performance, leading to three points, sometimes pretty football needs to get ugly and we showed just how ugly we can get!