End of season disappointment

Saturday 13^th April

vs Active Soccer 1-2

Team: Ciarán; Ben, Matty, Connor, Elliot; Caleb; Adam, Josh, Ollie, Danny; Joe T. Subs: Cormac, Joe H, Tom.

The boys rounded off the league season by yet again playing the better football against the team at the top of the league whose style of play, with “professional” pushes, fouls and time wasting, continues to leave a sour taste. Their winner, six minutes from time, was met with screams of relief on the touchline, which tells the boys all that they need to know about their determined performance.

They could hardly have given Active a better start as they gifted them a goal in the first minute as Connor allowed the forward in to shoot. Ciarán was on the edge of the box to save but the rebound was tapped in to the unguarded net.

In the earlier game this season, they folded after conceding the first goal but there is far greater belief in their ability now, as recent displays if not results have shown. The swirling conditions made it difficult to judge the ball at times but Matty was a tower of strength in defence, getting powerful headers on anything that Active threw in and clearing off the line in the 10^th minute after the ball stopped in the wind and deceived Ciarán.

Up front, Joe T was giving a performance that would eventually just shave the Man of the Match award, leading the line strongly against some determined defenders. Caleb gave him a chance in the 4^th minute, which he failed to get any power behind and he went on to work the keeper from long range after 12 minutes.

Joe Topping - Man of the Match

Ciarán bravely took the ball off the forward’s feet, and took a kick in the hand for his efforts, as Active pushed the boys back and Elliot was there to rob the last man a minute later.

Joe T hustled his way into the box, only to be blocked off, but the boys were beginning to gain some momentum. Josh and Danny combined in the area after 22 minutes to open up the left of the Active defence but couldn’t get a shot away and it was an ugly looking challenge on Josh in the 25^th minute that set up another chance. Ben’s free kick flew wide of the target but Active then committed another foul on the opposite side of the pitch. Caleb kept it low and beat everybody, the ball nestling in the far corner of the net to bring the scores level.

The start of the second half was nearly as disastrous as the first: Ciarán was slow off the line as Active threw the ball into the area and, although Ben and Connor relieved the pressure, the keeper still had to pull off a good low save.

Tom, on for the second half with Joe H in place of Elliot and Ollie, was standing firm again at the back as Matty continued to dominate in the air. When Active got through, Ciarán was on hand to pull off a double save in the 36^th minute, with Tom finishing the job off. Joe H picked up from the resultant corner and went long to Joe T who again worked the defence hard, waiting for reinforcements. Ciarán had to go full length for his fingertips to push a shot around the post a minute later and, yet again, it was down to Joe T to relieve the pressure up front.

Ollie came back on in the middle for Josh after 39 minutes as the boys found some space on the left, with Adam feeding Joe T: his first shot was blocked and he fired the rebound wide. Cormac replaced Danny for the last quarter on the right but it was Joe T on the left, whose strength forced a corner that continued to keep the game finely poised.

Active got the breakthrough in the 50^th minute after Ben was beaten to the ball on the left. The shot past the advancing Ciarán was not on target until it rebounded off Tom into the path of the forward who scuffed it into the empty net.

Josh and Elliot came on for Adam and Ben in advanced positions looking for an equaliser but Active saw out the game, with Connor smart in the tackle at the back.

The results since Christmas don’t make for easy reading, but do not tell the whole story. A succession of narrow defeats to the teams at the top, with the boys the equal to all of them, may have left them towards the bottom of the table but the coming cup games should give them the chance to show us just what they can do. With the spine of Matty, Caleb and Joe T, supported by the rest of the team, playing the way they have over the past month, anything is possible.