|
Wed 27th April 2005 Garnett Bohemian 2 (0) vs.(0) 2 Bellingham
|
|
The Reserves showed the battling spirit, which has been their trademark all season when a last minute equalizer from top scorer Adam Bell secured them a hard earned point against an impressive Bellingham. Bellingham arrived in confident mood having won eight and drawn one (with Champions) of their last nine games, included in their ranks was Mark Nixon who had appeared in the Football League for Carlisle United last season. The Reserves were fully stretched with youngsters Nico Heslop and Kevin Harty getting deserved first starts in the 1 st team and Ben Ramsay out with a cricket induced injury. Additionally midfielders Chris Pearce and Tom Penn had played that afternoon in the Wednesday C’s Championship clincher. With third team keeper Rob Scott injured and fourth choice Rory Kroon unsigned, it was left to Matty Laws to bravely take the gloves. This is indicative of the committed attitude towards the team and club that Laws has displayed all season. Laws proved to be an inspired choice and produced an excellent peformance, his organisational skills were much appreciated by those in front of him (are you reading this Kev?) and he made one vital double save late in the game do keep the Reserves in the game. If it were not for an outstanding performance from fresher defender Andy Smith, excelling in the centre of defence, Laws would have won man of the match. On a well grassed pitch and in a strong win it was difficult for both teams to play good passing football but this did not stop this being an entertaining and fiercely contested game. Full credit to the referee who let the game flow and played the advantage rule. It was easy to see why Bellingham have done well, a well organised defence marshalled by their impressive young centre half Brown, an energetic midfield and some genuine flair and pace up front. To the Reserves credit, they worked hard to close Bellingham down and did particularly well staying on their feet and forcing Bellingham away from the danger area. Laws was hardly troubled in the 1 st half. In the second half, Pearce understandably began to tire and Bellingham started to control the centre of midfield. It was not a great surprise when one of their promising young midfielders scored from the edge of the area. The Reserves equalized straight from kick off with a well worked goal, coolly finished by eager substitute Craig Allen. The game continued to be played at an impressively high tempo as both teams played flat out. Bellingham took the lead controversially when the ball was superbly crossed ,from a yard behind the bye line, to allow Riley to force home. The Reserves could have no complaints as linesman Penn did not raise his flag, to be fair to him even if he had been up with play the way the evening sunlight was reflecting of the pitch it was virtually impossible to see the line from the far side of the pitch. The Reserves dug deep and continued to press for an equalizer but all too often wasted opportunities with over ambitious long range shots. Allen missed the one clear opportunity from an identical position to his goal but placed his shot too close to the keeper. But this team never quits and their endeavours were rewarded when the visiting left back misjudged a header from a Laws punt and Adam Bell rounded the keeper and finished calmly to the delight of all in the Green and Black. The Reserves threw centre half Adam Alexander up front for the last 10 minutes as they went to a bold 3 4 3 formation and it was good to see this positive attitude was rewarded. Author: Paddy Team: M.Laws, A.Parkinson, C.Jackson, M.Pollard, A.Alexander©, A.Smith (MoM), NB: The views expressed here are those
of the author and do not necessarily represent the |