SUN 30 MARCH 08

STOKE LANE ‘A’           4

FRY CLUB COLTS        3

This was always a challenging fixture as we had rarely beaten Stoke Lane on previous encounters but approached this game knowing we could win.

We had the wind in our favour for the first half, which was to prove decisive as this turned out to be a game of two halves. From the first whistle we had Stoke Lane under pressure. James Boulton, back from injury, saw his volley fly over the bar after 2 mins. Shortly after this was followed by a great corner from Mo Bouaziz which fell plum onto Scott Gregorys head only to somehow see it miss the goal. Brad Monelle picked up a through ball on the right which allowed him to cut inside but his shot beat the keeper and the post to go wide. The pressure continued as our back 3 of James Hurrell Smith, Scott Gregory and Ben Keen had little to take care of. In midfield, James Boulton was proving very influential linking the play from defence through Midfield. A throw in to Oli Randall gave him a chance to cross into the box where Mo’s header went straight into the keepers arms. It was from a corner that the breakthrough finally came. This time Kyle Curtis took an inswinging left footed corner from the right and his precise kick sailed over everybody and went in direct, to put us deservedly 1-0 up. This was immediately followed by another good run from Kyle whose pass into the box found Oli Randall and he lashed his shot pass the stranded keeper to double our lead to 2-0. This soon became 3-0 as Oli Randalls pass to Scott Palmer enabled him to cut inside and release the ball to Brad Monelle who made no mistake just before half time. The last attack of the half came from Stoke Lane from a corner which was brilliantly cleared with a spectacular diving header by James Hurrell Smith. There was no doubt that we were well worth our 3-0 lead given the dominance we had in the first 40 mins.

Although we discussed our jobs for the second half, it was to be ultimately against us, just like the wind. Stoke Lane took the game to us and within 2 mins could well have scored twice, but both shots went either side of the posts. However, their pressure soon paid off as we let the ball bound around our penalty box and the shot on target crept under Craig Francis body to pull a goal back. Again further pressure gave Stoke Lane another chance to score to put them within a goal of us. Our best chance of the second half was some good running by Brad Monelle with the ball. His cross into the box fell perfectly for Charlie Frampton but his great effort on the side volley cannoned squarely back off the bar. Unfortunately changes were forced due to a foot injury to James Boulton, who later found that he had broken a bone in his foot, and Scott Gregory which didn’t help the balance of the team. Ultimately though we were guilty of giving the ball away too much and Stoke Lane scored an equalizer with 8 mins to go and the winner with less than 5 mins of the match remaining.

This was by far the most frustrating game of the season. No individuals fault and certainly a game to learn by, in that you have never won until the final whistle.

Despite the gloom of the second half, we did play extremely well in the first and the scoreline could have been more had it not been for such a consistent 80 minute performance by today's Man of the Match James Hurrell Smith.  

SQUAD: Craig Francis, James Boulton, Danny McCarthy, Mo Bouaziz, Oli Randall(Capt), Kyle Curtis,  Scott Gregory, Scott Palma, Nathan Dawson, Ben Keen, James Hurrell Smith, Charlie Frampton, Jordan Knight, Ryan Gibbs, Oli Murray