Easton 1 Yelverton1

This weekend we were back at the college this week to take on a Yelverton side who have had a similarly good start to the season after being promoted from division 3 last season.

With no fewer than 8 players unavailable through injury or work a threadbare squad was selected with Pez also returning after last weeks absence through work. We were also dealt a further blow when skipper Norm was injured in the warm up but he vowed to battle through the pain barrier.

The opening exchanges of the game were fairly even with us just shading the play in most areas. Yelverton were quick to hit their front two but there were no real chances of note for either side in the first 10 minutes with both teams trying to get a foothold in the game. Coult in the Yelverton goal had to be alert to tip two driven crosses over the bar from Jordy and Capps respectively where as Taylor in the Easton goal had to be on his toes to punch away a couple of dangerous crosses.

Cartledge, Norm and Rob were having some joy in midfield and were starting to dictate play between them and we were moving the ball around well after two games where we seemed unable to play a 3 yard pass and it was some neat play in midfield that brought the opening goal of the game. Some quick interchange play saw the ball fall to Rob on the edge of the area and his through ball was handled by the Yelverton defender. George stepped up and confidently despatched the resulting into the bottom corner to give us a deserved 1-0 lead.

Yelverton started to grow into the game following the opener and we have the crossbar to thank for keeping the scores level as a corner was headed towards goal and looked as if it would creep in before the goal-frame came to our rescue.

HT 1-0

The second half was always going to be a tough affair with a strong headwind facing us but with the better football being played by us again early in the half we could and perhaps should have been in front within 10 minutes of the restart. Some more neat play in midfield released George down the left and his pin point cross found Luca at the far post. He connected well but a superb save from Coult kept the score at 1-0 before Luca returned the favour for George who's header brushed the wrong side of the post.

Our legs were starting to tire now with no changes left to make and despite the back 5 of Al, Matty, Fletch, Jordy and Taylor defending admirably the away side were coming more and more into the game. Taylor had to be alert to tip too swerving corners over his crossbar before Yelverton finally got their goal. A free kick from almost on the touchline was fired in low and after taking a nick it squirmed in despite the man on the line's best efforts.

Yelverton's tails were now up but it was Easton who had the first chance to nick it when George couldn't quite beat the keeper from the edge of the area before the away side hit the post again late on and they also had a goal disallowed when the player strayed offside before finishing on the goal line.

FT 1-1

With the amount of players currently injured just getting a competitive side together was a challenge this week but the under 19 lads that stepped in more than held their own which bodes well for the future. More pleasing was the fight shown after two defeats in a row. Well done all.