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Refresh 1 – 3 Coign Legends
Les Taylor28 Oct 2016 - 09:46
Match Report
The legends travelled to Molesey to play the team that had beaten last season’s league winners 5-1 in their opening fixture. A result that led us to assume that Refresh had picked up some new players over the summer. This turned out to be exactly the case as Refresh were a far stronger force than has been experienced in recent seasons. Indeed, along with the ‘new blood’ the rest of the team seemed stronger, fitter and more determined than we are used to. With 2/3 changes to our squad from last week, the legends were still 15 strong and keen to get going from the start. The pitch at Molesey is wide, so it should have suited our game, giving plenty of space to play our passing game. However, Molesey were not simply there to make the numbers up and the deadlock in a closely fought 1st half wasn’t broken until the 39th minute when Paul Boon sent a wonderful through ball down the middle to Mark Healy who, in one graceful movement, controlled turned and volleyed the ball past the stranded Refresh keeper into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.
At half-time we talked about making more use of the flanks, as there was so much room to exploit and we felt we could stretch our opponents out of position to create more chances. However, Refresh had used the break well and from the kick-off, started to have more and more control of the ball and we found ourselves on the back foot, defending our goal. Thankfully, a display full of character enabled us to weather the storm, particularly as Mark Easterman began man marking their strong playmaker, pretty much nullifying his threat. On the 65th minute we went further ahead following a pass down the left to Mark Easterman who, beating his marker for strength and determination, provided a delightful pass for Ian Crocker to run onto and finish calmly. This spurred our opponents on and they must be credited for the way they settled into their game and piled the pressure on us. This pressure paid off when on about the 80th minute they were awarded a penalty that was fired home with power. The game was now set for a final 10 minutes which, quite frankly, could’ve gone either way. In the Legends though, we are fortunate to have a number of players who believe they are wasted playing in defence and should be ‘up-front’. One such player is Mick Collis, who added credence to his claim by scoring what must certainly turn out to be the goal of the season.
With just 5 minutes to go, Mark Healy received a pass down the left wing, beat his defender and whipped a cross over to Mick, who was sprinting down the inside-right channel. Mick met the ball on the edge of the penalty area and smashed it first time into the top right hand corner to score a goal that I doubt anyone could’ve saved. The celebrations were a joy to watch with even Vass sprinting the length of the pitch to join in.
The match finished shortly afterwards and although we won, we knew we’d been in a game. A display full of character though, enabled us to stand firm for the most part. Congratulations to all concerned.
At half-time we talked about making more use of the flanks, as there was so much room to exploit and we felt we could stretch our opponents out of position to create more chances. However, Refresh had used the break well and from the kick-off, started to have more and more control of the ball and we found ourselves on the back foot, defending our goal. Thankfully, a display full of character enabled us to weather the storm, particularly as Mark Easterman began man marking their strong playmaker, pretty much nullifying his threat. On the 65th minute we went further ahead following a pass down the left to Mark Easterman who, beating his marker for strength and determination, provided a delightful pass for Ian Crocker to run onto and finish calmly. This spurred our opponents on and they must be credited for the way they settled into their game and piled the pressure on us. This pressure paid off when on about the 80th minute they were awarded a penalty that was fired home with power. The game was now set for a final 10 minutes which, quite frankly, could’ve gone either way. In the Legends though, we are fortunate to have a number of players who believe they are wasted playing in defence and should be ‘up-front’. One such player is Mick Collis, who added credence to his claim by scoring what must certainly turn out to be the goal of the season.
With just 5 minutes to go, Mark Healy received a pass down the left wing, beat his defender and whipped a cross over to Mick, who was sprinting down the inside-right channel. Mick met the ball on the edge of the penalty area and smashed it first time into the top right hand corner to score a goal that I doubt anyone could’ve saved. The celebrations were a joy to watch with even Vass sprinting the length of the pitch to join in.
The match finished shortly afterwards and although we won, we knew we’d been in a game. A display full of character though, enabled us to stand firm for the most part. Congratulations to all concerned.
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