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Saturday 3rd November 2007
Wembdon Saints 1-6 BW Sports Colts
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Having won their first six games of the season, the Colts were now looking for their first win in three, as they visited a sunny Puriton to face Wembdon Saints who had previously won 2 and lost 2 at home.
Despite the non appearance of former stalwart Olly Townsend, the Colts were still able to take a strong 16 man squad on the road, bolstered by the inclusion of Shane Smith, Jordan Meaker and Mark Hill, who all dropped down after previously representing the senior squads. Jamie Gardner was also handed his first starting appearance, after impressing as a 2nd half substitute on the previous weekend.
With greater attacking options available, a 4-4-2 formation was chosen, with the aim of quickly attacking the spaces whilst defending tightly on the breakdowns.
The first point to note was how small, and particularly narrow, the pitch was. Space would be at a premium, although after just 5mins a long through ball from Shane Smith was taken down well by Jamie but who’s shot on the volley flew over the crossbar. Fortunately, an early goal was not long in coming. A long crossfield ball looked to be safe enough, as it pushed Iaine Selway wide to the right of their box, but a terrifically early struck volley, caught the keeper by surprise as the ball flew hard and low back across goal and into the bottom corner, for 1-0 after 10mins.
Although rarely threatened the Colts were never in full control of the game, with the early goal proving to be of great benefit, as the next 30mins was spent trying to come to terms with the pitch size, as so many balls were over hit and put out of play. However, the final 5mins of the 1st half saw the Colts reap the rewards that their dominance and possesion play deserved. Indecision at the back allowed Jamie to nip the ball off the defender and tap the ball past the keeper for a more comfortable looking 2-0 scoreline. The confidence gained from that first goal meant that when Jamie was put through by Spenny, just 2mins later, with only the keeper to beat, he was never going to miss and indeed he coolly slotted the ball home for 3-0. Wemdon were now a little shell-shocked, having defended valiantly for most of the 1st half, and were still reeling when Gareth found space in the box to fire at the keeper, who saved well but could only parry the ball back to Gareth who stuck firmly again at goal but again the keeper saved well and again the ball dropped to Gareth who, at the third attempt, hit the ball into the roof of the net for a 4-0 half time lead.
Changes were made at half-time, with the introduction of Hillbill and Adam Clapp, to maintain a workman like performance in the 2nd half, where concentration would ensure more goals and importantly a clean sheet.
10mins after the restart, Jordan having moved over to replace Gareth on the left, proved that he too could combine well with Nathan as the two linked together, before Nathan broke clear down the flank and put a dangerous ball into the box. There it was well met by Jamie, who stroked it past the keeper to complete his second successive hatrick, in a 15minute spell either side of half-time.
Wemdon, to their credit, were more competitive in the 2nd half, having made their own changes, and were keen to make use of the blindingly low sun, which was quite a hindrance by shining directly into the faces of the Colts defence. Plenty of hopeful high balls were having the desired effect as miss control and miss headers resulted in some half chances for the opposition.
However, as Wemdon pressed forward, down the hill, they would be leaving themselves open for the counter attack, and mid way through the half they paid the price. A long clearance out of defence found the versatile Jordan Meaker, now playing upfront alongside Jamie, who won the header to knock the ball on to his strike partner. With room to run in to Jamie would not be caught, as he again finished with aplomb to slot past the out rushing keeper for his 4th and the teams 6th goal of the afternoon.
The only black mark against the Colts came 30mins into the 2nd half. A fortunate free kick was awarded to Wemdon, just outside the box and to the left of our goal. The wall was lined up but Gazza was rooted to the spot as the ball was lifted over the wall (straight into the sun!) and fell into the bottom corner of the goal – well executed, it has to be said.
The remaining minutes became a little feisty and littered with free kicks. Adam Clapp became the first Colts player to be booked this season, but will escape any internal club discipline as he was very unfortunate to be shown the yellow card after being retaliated upon following a tackle, but did nothing more than walk away from the incident.
The final whistle blew for a return to winning ways for the Colts, with a convincing 6-1 scoreline. Without being over stretched in the game the players were clearly better, individually and collectively, than their opponents and will all be eagerly looking forward to the tougher return match vs Old Inn on their next run out in 2 weeks time.
A note must be made regarding Kevin ‘Bun’ Curren. Having been unlucky to have dropped to the bench, following the inclusion of so many players coming down into the team, he was doubly unlucky when an administrative error forced him to leave the pitch just seconds after being sent on as a 2nd half substitute. The manager will ensure in future that the referee repeats the names of the substitutes that he is provided with at the start of the match, to ensure that all substitutes are accounted for and thus available to take part in the game!
Final Score: 6-1
Scorers: Jamie Gardner (4) Iaine Selway Gareth Monaghan
Team – inc. Dream Team Ratings
G. Howes 6
N. Criddle 7
C. Savage 7
A. Walford 7
S. Smith 7
G. Monaghan 7
I. Selway 7
J. Meaker 7
S. Frost 8
J. Gardner 8 *Man - Another master class in finishing.
S. Redman 7
Subs:
M. Hill 7
A. Clapp 7
D. Woolridge 6
K. Curren Not used (!)
J. Lyons Not used
Donkey: A. Farkas - No more administrative errors please.
W**ker: O. Townsend - The award says it all.
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