Sat 13th December 2003 Alnmouth 1
(1) Gosforth Bohemians Garnett 0 (0)
|
The first team made the long journey to
Alnmouth hot on the back of thrashing Eastend Railway 7-0. Given the need
for revenge following a 5-2 reverse in the cup and the fact that this
was a top of the table clash, the 1sts needed little encouragement to
put in a good performance. Pitch conditions and the fact there was a heavy
wind were never going to make it an easy day but the effort from all players
was there to be seen. Playing into the wind in the 1st half it was a spirited
defensive performance form the front line all the way through to the
defence, as Alnmouth were restricted to long range shots and corners.
The impressive Cavanagh did a tremendous job in keeping their star striker
quiet for the first half and Mercer and Hindley did an equally impressive
job on their midfield general with Hindley once again managing to talk
himself into trouble with the opposition players. In fact despite the
wind the firsts continued to play some attractive passing football and
but for a fine save from their keeper would have taken a lead into half
time. This however was not the case as the opposition striker who had
been kept quiet for the entire half was given a half chance to turn.
He did and despite Alexander's best efforts to rectify the problem,
got a shot The second half could not have been more of a contrast from the first. Out went the flowing passing football that had worked well during the first half and tactics became a case of long balls up the pitch in the hope Thompson would create an opportunity. This turned out to be an ineffective system as the wind was playing havoc with passes and opportunities were few and far between for the start of the second half. This continued for much of the half but midway through the half the 1sts pressure was starting to show and as a result managed to create corners and free kicks, which were dealt with confidently by the opposing keeper. As the second half wore on the urgency for an equaliser increased and pressure on the opposition increased. Despite numerous corners and many scrambles in the box the ball just would not go into the net. As the final whistle blew with the score still at 1-0 the firsts had every right to feel disappointed that they did not get a share of the spoils. It would be fair to say that a draw would have been
the right result but this was not to be Garnett's day. However the opportunity
for a rematch at Home will present itself later in the season and with
the table being so tight this may prove to be an even more important
fixture than Saturday's loss. With Two games in hand on Alnmouth, the
1sts still have the opportunity to go top, however it is becoming increasingly
obvious that this division is causing more problems than previously
anticipated and promotion is no longer the certainty it seemed at the
start of the season. Certainly a loss to daisy Hill this weekend would
throw some doubt on this title push, and with that in mind there is
no room for complacency, as three points would be a nice way to sign
off for the Xmas break and take some of the growing pressure off. Team: F.Hepburn, M.Brown, M.Menton, N.Hindley, A.Alexander,
S.Cavanagh, J.Hall, D.Mercer, D.Sherwood, J.Thompson, D.Mullen |