This six goal thriller started with Alleynians going 2-0 down within 6 minutes of the start. Racing Club Warwick should really have added another two before Alleynians pulled one back in the 11th minute. By the 89th minute the Old Boys had taken a 3-2 lead and looked like they had pulled off a miraculous win. However, Warwick rescued a point when they made it 3-3 with almost the very last kick of the game, with the draw probably a fair overall reflection of the game.

On a beautiful sunny afternoon, Old Alleynians must have been dreaming of their summer holidays at the start of the game. Sam Bradbury lost the ball in midfield and then hesitation by Alleynians’ Luke Askey and Ollie Davies allowed Warwick’s winger, Daniel Kavanagh to cut in from the right. He crossed to Romario Martin who eventually fired home from close range, giving the hosts a very early 1-0 lead.

Two minutes later, Alleynians lost the ball on the halfway line and with one pass, Warwick’s Martin was through again to score easily past Walklate, making it 2-0 to the hosts. After the restart, the sluggish Alleynians almost went three down as Kavanagh rattled the crossbar with a powerful shot from 20 yards and then Walklate came to the Old Boys rescue with a sharp save from Martin after Askey’s poor pass allowed the forward to get free.

By the 11th minute, Alleynians had finally woken up and a long ball from Joe Baxter found Jack Bowater on the edge of the Warwick box. He passed the ball onto veteran fullback, Dave Ablewhite, who dribbled skilfully into the box, making enough room to fire a shot from 20 yards past Racing keeper Daniel Crane, making the score 2-1.

With Alleynians now looking to equalise, both teams were making opportunities in attack. Stone’s Alex Cimino had a great chance in the 35th minute when a cross into the penalty area found him free on the edge of the 6-yard box. In his attempt to direct the ball into the goal, he could only cushion it softly straight into the arms of the grateful Crane, in the Racers goal.

Half time: Racing Club Warwick 2-1 Stone Old Alleynians

The second half continued in the same vein as the first with both teams looking to add to their scores. In the 51st minute, a shot by Warwick’s Joshua Steele hit the post and rebounded to safety. In the 65th minute, Alleynians’ winger Jack Bowater was put through on goal but his shot rolled just past the home goal.

In the 65th minute, good football by Warwick set up Dylan Parker with the space to unleash a 20 yard shot at the Alleynians goal. Walklate was on his toes and made a comfortable save. Two minutes later, Alleynians finally got their reward when the ball was worked across the Racers’ box to Jack Tomlinson who fired in a shot. It was deflected into the path of Old Boys’ winger Alex Cimino and he calmly paced the ball into the opposition goal, making it 2-2 with 20 minutes to go.

In the 71st minute, a flowing move by Alleynians saw the ball played back to Ablewhite on the edge of the Warwick penalty area. He shot first time and his powerful attempt hit the bar and went over. In the 80th minute, Old Boys’ striker, Sam Wilson got through for a 1v1 with Crane, the Racers’ keeper, but he could only watch in disbelief as he put his shot wide of the goal.

In the 85th minute, Warwick went down to 10 men when Ricardo Dudley was shown a second yellow card. Alleynians took advantage of the extra space and in the 89th minute a good move around the Racers’ box ended with Jack Tomlinson getting onto the end of a Cimino cross to divert the ball into the home net and giving Alleynians an unlikely 3-2 lead with time almost up.

The team from Stone couldn’t see the game out and in time added on, Warwick’s skipper, Cal Templeton, moved into the Old Boys’ half, exchanging passes on the way. He got into the Alleynians box and was allowed the time and space to fire the ball past Walklate, bringing the scores level at 3-3. Overall this was a fair reflection of the game but both teams will probably feel that they should have won the game.

Our last league game of the season is on Monday 18th April at home to Wolverhampton Casuals, KO at 3.00pm

Full time: Racing Club Warwick 3-3 Stone Old Alleynians

Stone OA: Walklate, Baxter, Askey, Ablewhite, Davies, Bowater J, Bradbury, Bailey, Wilson, Tomlinson, Cimino
Subs: Woolrich, Russell, Gardner