The U16s were away to Blandford United Bulldogs today and it proved to be a very tight affair with a nail-biting finish. Two well matched teams traded attacks from the start but it was the U16s who got their noses in front when Alex Di Marcos shot in the 19th minute was too good for their keeper. And it stayed at 1-0 well into the second half, with our keeper Henry (H) Hawes and the back four looking comfortable. However, with 20 minutes to go, Bulldogs pushed up our right side and one of their players was allowed enough time to flight in a high ball to the far post which left H well beaten. So 1-1 and literally nothing between the two sides until Jim Bird hit a great through ball for Matt Bright to run on to. As he lined up to beat their keeper, their last defender caught his foot and the ball skewed off to the right, with Brighty hitting the deck. Sadly, that wasnt what the referee saw and the boys were denied what seemed like a dead cert penalty as he gave them a goal kick. But then, as the teams edged nervously towards the end, we had more controversy. And again, Brighty was involved. As he tracked one of their forwards, who was chasing a ball which was harmlessly running out of play at the edge of the penalty box, their feet appeared to tangle and the boy fell over like the proverbial sack of potatoes! Penalty said the ref. No more than two minutes to go and the U16s were facing an undeserved defeat - but keeper H had other ideas. As their player struck the ball hard down the middle, H dived to his right and stuck up a strong right hand to push the ball over the bar. The save of the season! We then had to defend the corner, with Bulldogs sending everyone into the box to try to win the game. But, thankfully, the boys held on and the game finished as a 1-1 draw, which, on balance, was probably a fair result for both teams.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 17:02:29 +0000
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