Sands United v Alba Eagles

It's been a long time since we were a) at home and b) in league action and c) playing in tangerine, but here we were and very much up for avenging the defeat from last week against the unbeaten Alba Eagles.
 
Before the gamed kicked off we observed a minutes silence in memory of Jake Bull's daughter Olivia, as ever very well respected and we thank the opposition teams for allowing us to remember our babies on their special anniversaries.
 
The game kicked off and you could tell from early on that the game was going to be played in a very fast tempo with physicality to match. The game started off with a good midfield battle, with neither team able to dominate in an attacking sense.  
 
Eventually, the first real attacking move was by the tangerine army as they progressed up the pitch, to end up with free kick right by the corner. the ball was curled in from the left with pace by Allen and the ball hit the post and went in. 1-0 
 
The goal then awake Alba from their slumber as they started to attack a bit more, they had a great opportunity to equalise but Barker stood big one on one and palmed the ball to safety.
 
As the minutes went on Alba started the long ball tactics, one of which lead to a mistake in the Sands defence, which proved costly as the striker finished into the bottom right corner. 1-1
 
The rest of the half was played in the middle of the park with the killer final ball just missing from both teams.
 
Alba continued the long balls and were met either by Gavin who dominated in the air or by Heard who had a stormer as they tried to attack down the left-hand side. 
 
The rest of the half was played out with a lot of strong tackles, pretty sure the ref's whistle broke after the number of fouls given against the opposition.
Ultimately no team gave anything away and the first half closed with both teams level.
 
The second half saw the wind very much against us and alba exerted themselves on the game a bit more, In the early minutes they forced Barker into a save down to his right-hand side. This half with the wind so strong the team dropped a bit deeper and Littlemore grew more into the game, being the man to transition between attack and defence. A lovely move by the boys ended with Allen completely taken out by the goalkeeper but a free kick was not given. 
Alba attacked more often but very rarely passed Christie and Hilliker in the centre of defence.
as the half went on the typhoon played more and more into the hands of Alba as sands couldn't clear their lines effectively.
 
One Alba move ended with a shot from 3 yards out, which looked all for the world like it was going to be 2-1, but Barker dived to his right and as he did he changed the deep space continuum, causing time to slow down enough for him to make a point-blank save and gather the ball safely.
 
The next few minutes Sands battled hard to create chances but Alba were resolute in defence and showed why they are unbeaten so far this season.
 
In a cruel twist 2 minutes from the end, Alba fashioned a clear goal scoring opportunity and made no mistake with the finish, it was not what the team deserved, a right sucker punch to end the game.
 
We can hold our heads high for the determination and passion we played with. We go again.
 
Next week the boys are off on tour to London to play AFTV FC on Saturday 24th.
 
See you all next week.