SUN
20 APRIL 08
FRY
CLUB COLTS 3
CADBURY
HEATH ‘C’ 3
With 3 out of 4 home games to go, this was a match
against a team who had a similar league record as us but who we had already
beaten away this season.
The opening minute of the game gave Cadbury an early
chance with only Craig Francis to beat but put the shot wide. Our game was to
involve plenty of ball retention and passing which created a first chance to
Brad Monelle from a Kyle Curtis pass, but his left
foot strike was saved by the keeper for one of many first half corners for us.
Both Mo Bouaziz and Kyle swung at least 6 corners
into the box but we just couldn’t connect with a header on target. Craig
Francis was called into action again after 15 minutes as he pushed away a
strong effort around the post. In fact, James Hurrell
Smith, Oli Murray and Ben Keen looked very
comfortable at the back as Frys enjoyed plenty of
possession in Midfield, a Midfield in which both Danny McCarthy and Oli
Randall were involved in many of the moves. A great Oli
Murray free kick to the far post gave Kyle Curtis a half chance but his left
boot just failed to make a sound connection with the ball. Another chance fell
to Brad Monelle again on the left but his shot only
found the side netting. With the Heath defence under
pressure, Charlie Frampton won a tackle and released the ball to Mo who squared
it to Oli Randall but his left foot shot just took a deflection as it went over
for yet another corner. 2 further corners to be won but on 38 minutes a rare
Heath attack gave them a golden chance to score, which they did to put us 1-0
down into half time.
With the belief that we could score enough goals in
the second half to win the match, the first hurdle was not to concede. A
mistake early in the second half though allowed a Heath forward through with
just the keeper to beat but Craig Francis stood tall and made a great save. The
first 15 minutes of the second half was in general sloppy as we struggled to
create any openings. Disaster occurred as we gave another goal away to go 2-0
down and now with a mountain to climb. However, this seemed to stir up the
Midfield and following some determined play a great ball through to Brad Monelle onto his right foot allowed him to finish the move
and pull a goal back with over 20 mins still to play.
This generated energy throughout the team as everyone rose to the challenge.
Scott Palma picked up the ball just outside the Heath area on the left and with
a great run pass 2 defenders pushed the ball towards the bye line beyond a
third player and was brought down in the process. Incredibly the Referee waved
play on as he insisted Scott had dived. However, 2 mins
later another great left wing run, this time by Kyle Curtis drew another clumsy
tackle to this time earn a deserved free kick. Kyle took the kick and his
precise ball found Oli Randalls
head and he made no mistake to level the match at 2-2. A winner was now
possible as there was still time left. Despite our effort though, we couldn’t
create another clear chance. With 3 mins to go, a
hopeful ball was crossed into our area which Craig shouted and claimed but
somehow the ball slipped out of his hands for a Heath forward to poke home. We
now needed inspiration or a miracle to gain something out of the game. Mo Bouaziz had a chance as his great volley effort was heading
into the roof of the net but with the keeper on his line he made a comfortable
save. With time running out, another ball was won and passed out wide to Mo. He
cut in and penetrated the Heath defence with a great
pass to Brad Monelle and his strike from 20 yards
zipped past the Heath keeper into the bottom corner for a share of the points
in a thoroughly entertaining, if frustrating, game.
There were key performances across the pitch from
Danny, Oli Randall and Mo plus 2 great goals from
Brad, but todays Man of the Match was awarded to Ben
Keen for another very strong game in defence.
SQUAD:
Craig Francis, Danny McCarthy, Mo Bouaziz, Oli Randall(Capt), Kyle Curtis, Scott Gregory, Lewis Watt,
Scott Palma, Brad Monelle, Oli
Murray, Ryan Gibbs, Jordan Knight, Ben Keen, James Hurrell
Smith, Charlie Frampton