Abberley Vale hosted Greyhound AFC for a fixture that they were always confident of getting a result from. With a number of players unavailable or injured Big Boss Bingo was forced yet again to name a different starting 11.
With Fez serving the first of a five week ban, silky made a timely return to fitness and slotted back into the centre of defence. Craig Pickering swapped one end of the field for the other as he was brought into the vacant right back position. There was a new centre midfield partnership of Gav Knight and Steve Nutbean that would complement the attacking styles of Luke Bridgewater and Sam Hughes. Leading the attack for Vale were the two big men Laan and Dirky.
So the game was started with Vale pinging the ball around the park, Gav Knight and Steve Nutbean pulling the strings. Sam went into the match with a slight knock although you would have never known with the way he was flying down the wing and whipping crosses in. Dirky started the game as he carried on right through to the end, full of energy and giving his all, he was even found to be making tackles alongside the back four!
Vale took control of the game early on and were on top all the way through. The scoring was opened by Laan with a cool chip over the keeper inside the box, this was soon followed by a well struck goal from Dirky on the edge of the penalty area. Vale were making the most of the possession with chance after chance being created. Laan scored his second of the game 5 mins before half time as he reacted first to a shot from Dirky that came back out off the keeper.
The second half began with Vale looking to add to the 3 goal lead they already had and after 15 mins of making sure that there was going to be no come back, they started to push forward again. It was to no surprise that Vale added a 4th as Laan completed his hat trick when Dirky put him through an he managed to slot home from a tight angle.
Greyhound never gave up throughout the whole match and this showed when they pulled a goal back. The corner came in and was met by the head of a greyhound player who tried to loop it in over the keepers head, tude however, managed to scoop it back out only for it to land at the feet of a greyhounds player who calmly tapped in. This was soon followed by a second from greyhound when a low cross was deflected off the leg of Gay and onto the size 18 foot of Az who smashed it into the top corner....a finish any striker would be proud of, shame it was an O.G.
Just to make sure of the tie, Hale came on as sub and produced the energy needed to keep the opposition on their toes. His energy was rewarded when he managed to get on the score sheet after hitting home inside the penalty area.
Rik eventually had to be substituted himself after taking a heavy fall, he was replaced by none other than Bomo!! The Schmeichel like keeper was making his return from injury but in a rare appearance in an outfield shirt (which was a tad tight!) with almost his first involvement in the game he had an opportunity to add a sixth to the total however was not able to take advantage of the loose ball inside the box, this brought about great amusement to the sideline! He wasn’t finished there though, as Thompa was helping out at the back too with an absolute monster of a challenge on the opposing forward that seemed to knock both himself and the player flying.
Positives to be taken – Good to see Vale turning chances into goals as they always looked a threat going forward.
Az is getting better every game and looks to be a quality partner for Silky at the back.
Dirky got his first full 90 mins under his belt since coming back from injury.
THOMPSON, yes I did say Thompson made his first outfield appearance for a while however missed a golden opportunity to add a goal to his name! I feel if he had scored the crowd may have swarmed the pitch.
Competition for places is seeing performances get better and better!
Back room staff –
Manager – Bingo Briggsy
Assistant Manager – Ginge
Linesman – Chuff (HA)
Head Groundsman – Pirate
Super Cheerleaders – Jakeman, Craig ‘Messi’ Bridgewater and Claire Williams
Cleaner - Pascy
