Fakenham Town Res 0 Easton 1

With no fewer than 12 first team quad members unavailable for the trip to last years league runners up Fakenham selection was more of a full on migraine than a headache this week! Four reserve players made the step up with Mitch and Brad starting while Nico and Tim took their place on the bench.

Fakenham have clearly had changes of their own this season with some new faces in the side we pipped to the league title last season. It was also to be the last game in charge for the Fakenham managers with a new challenge awaiting them next year.

We started in a very positive manner but despite seeing a lot of the ball we couldn't find any quality in the final third. The pitch at Clipbush Park looked excellent for this time of season but some unpredictable bounce was catching players out on both sides.

Hayden was the first to test Bond in the home goal as he drove forwards from midfield before seeing his effort saved. He did have the ball in the net soon after but saw his spectacular effort ruled out for offside. Brad and George then saw Bond again keep them out before an acrobatic effort from Cissell was more dangerous to the Morrisons car park than the Fakenham goal.

The home side did manage to foray forwards as the half ticked away and Sam had to be alert to make a superb close range save from a loose ball and despite earning themselves a couple of corners the Easton back line held firm.

Just as it looked as if the half would finish goalless Lewi found himself with a yard of space on the edge of the box and his neat flicked through ball was raced on to by Sags who was felled by the home keeper and the referee pointed to the spot. George made no mistake as he found the bottom corner from 12 yards to give us a thoroughly deserved lead at HT.

HT 0-1

The second half saw Fakenham come out of the blocks more quickly but despite having more possession they weren't troubling Sam in the Easton goal early on.

The Easton keeper was called into action though as he saved well down to his left from a shot from 12 yards before seeing a superb overhead effort crash against his post as Fakenham looked for a way back into the game.

Some good play down the left from Brad saw George leave an effort to Cissell but his effort was well blocked before George and Hayden saw efforts fly narrowly over the home cross bar. Tim was introduced for Brad and Nico replaced Mitch as we looked to see the game out. Fakenham managed to get some joy in the last ten minutes of the game but again couldn't find that vital bit of quality to earn a draw.

FT 0-1