It was a wet and windy morning at Peter Driver Sports ground (again!) and the pitch looked a bit worse for wear as there was a game on before us, so the boys knew that they were in for a tough morning, dealing with the conditions as well as playing against a very strong Fleet Town side who have started the season very strongly. However, our boys were up for it, the intensity throughout the warm up was superb, and there were good vibes all round.
Kris described the game as a dogfight; which is exactly what it was, and we knew it would be in the conditions that we were playing in. For the first 20 minutes, neither team really got hold of the ball, it was very scrappy, and it was a battle in the midfield. Both teams, at times, were moving the ball well but struggling to create anything clear cut.
About 24 minutes into the first half, Fleet had a great chance, which forced an unbelievable save from Bert in goal. Fleet scored from the resulting corner, a good header, their player taking advantage of our defence switching off. We then started moving the ball better and taking less touches, which allowed us to start taking control of the midfield, which led to us creating more chances. 5 minutes after their goal, Andrew played a long ball forward to Sam who won the aerial battle with the keeper and set it to Dylan, who volleyed a neat finish into the empty net from the edge of the area. A well worked, deserved goal. There were a few half chances for the rest of the first half, the most notable being from another Fleet corner, with a free header going just wide of the post – a huge let off. Just before halftime, Bobby picked up a nasty injury and had to be taken off – we wish him a speedy recovery and hope to have him back playing soon! We went into halftime with the score at 1-1, a big second half push needed.
Our second half performance was nothing short of exceptional. We took control of the game and were moving the ball well, making Fleet work hard to try and win it back. We had a lot of chances in the second half, but their keeper pulled out some great saves to keep it at 1-1. Lewis, who was our MOTM, had an absolute blinder at right back, and he was causing a lot of problems for the opposition, both defensively and offensively. The whole back 4 of Lewis, Ryan, Dylan and Reggie were absolutely solid, especially in the second half, they didn’t allow the opposition any clear cut chances and were really tough to beat 1v1. Andrew in centre midfield controlled the game, driving us forward with the ball and bringing other players into the game, and he was very unlucky to have not been awarded any free kicks for late challenges and kicks to the ankles. We had a very strong claim for a penalty in the second half, with Dylan running on to a through ball and being tripped by the recovering defender well inside the box but the referee waved it away. Finally, we found our breakthrough, and what a goal it was. In the 87th minute we won a corner, and Reggie went over to take it. He whipped the ball in, it sailed over everyone and went straight into the far corner. The boys loved it and there were big celebrations and it was great for us to see that togetherness from the lads. We saw out the game well and it finished 2-1 to Complete!!
As mentioned above, MOTM was Lewis who played excellently, and credit to the whole team as the boys put in one hell of a shift. We are buzzing for the next game which is against Farnham Town at home – UP THE COMPLETE!
