With pitches unplayable all over Coventry the availability of the Blue Coat 3G pitch gave Affinity the opportunity to continue their good run of form against a Holy Trinity team returning to the C&DCFL after a number of years away.
Affinity made a quick start moving the ball around sharply with only the final ball tending to go astray. Holy Trinity struggled to get any possession in the first 10 minutes but took an undeserved lead from a speculative shot from outside the area which dipped over Aron clipping the bar on its way into the net.
Affinity’s response was disciplined, keeping hold of the ball and choosing the simple pass where possible. A number of Affinity’s forages into the Trinity half found Gilly involved and if the final pass had fallen on his favoured right foot he may have levelled the scores.
It wasn’t all one way traffic during this phase of the half though with Affinity having to defend a couple of corners. Aron kept the Trinity lead from doubling with a fingertip save to his right pushing the ball just past the post.
Affinity’s possession finally reaped its reward when a shot across the area from the right by James was parried by the keeper leaving Fra to finish tidily in the corner. Affinity kept the pressure up and soon after took the lead when Chris stepped inside from the right side and sweetly lofted a shot over the keeper into the top right hand corner of the net.
Defensively sound with Sean and Gilly marshalling the centre and Wally keeping a speedy winger quiet and Chris covering ground up and down the left Affinity were now well on top. Gurps was causing all kinds of trouble down the left combining well with Mike A and Ian inside and with Fra up front. James was also effective down the right combining well with Mike P and delivering dangerous crosses and corners.
A third Affinity goal started from the back with Chris recovering the ball on the edge of the Affinity penalty area and moving forward before offloading the ball to Gurps who battled for the ball on the left before cutting it across to Fra. Fra’s shot was blocked with the ball falling to Mike P whose own shot was was also blocked before falling back to him as he coolly shifted the ball to his left foot creating space for a shot which he swept into the right hand corner of the net.
A deserved 3-1 half time lead meant for a positive team talk with encouragement to keep focused and the tempo high. With that rallying cry in their ears Affinity almost immediately switched off and conceded a 2nd goal from a through ball allowed to run through to a striker to clip the ball under Aron has he tried to narrow the angle.
Stunned by the early goal Affinity switched back on and were soon back on top and restoring their two goal cushion. The ball was shifted to Gurps on the left who picked out Fra in the Trinity penalty box. With his back to goal and with a couple of options sitting on the edge of the area he instinctively turned and swept the ball into the corner of the net leaving the keeper and his defensive marker wondering how he’d done it.
Now not content with holding a two goal cushion Affinity continued to press forward with Chris and Ian both clipping the bar with shots from just outside the area. A fifth Affinity goal and Fra’s hat trick was a solo effort with Fra winning the ball off a defender and beating the oncoming keeper.
A sixth goal effectively ending the game as a contest came mid way through the half with a penalty awarded to Affinity with Fra being brought down as he moved in on goal. Mike A thinking that this was a hat trick opportunity for Fra offered him the penalty. Fra placed the penalty straight at the keeper but was the quickest to react to the parry and netted from 5 yards.
With the effort expended to get a four goal lead Affinity settled into conserving the lead and energy but Trinity with nothing to lose shifted to a 5 man midfield and started to take more possession. A third goal for them followed by a fourth from a corner where the ball was somewhat bundled over the line.
A degree of nervousness was evident in the Affinity ranks and they had stopped playing the simple ball that had brought them much success earlier in the game. A good shout for a second penalty was waved away as Gurps’ right foot was clearly taken from him as he passed a defender. Ian and Fra also hit the same post in the same move and it looked like Affinity had weathered the storm.
A nervous last 3 minutes were on the cards after Trinity were themselves awarded a penalty with Sean adjudged to have handled the ball with his arm fairly close to his side. Aron was given no chance with a powerful shot to his left.
In all honesty had Trinity managed to get an equaliser in the time that remained it would have been an injustice but fair play to their battling spirit to get themselves back into the game.
Overall this was a fine further confidence building performance from a settled Affinity team. Although this victory was built on fine individual performances from the whole team special mention goes to Gilly for an all energy display, Gurps for creating chances in both halves and Chris for covering every blade of plastic on the pitch the man of the match award goes to Fra for his four goals which were crucial in the final analysis; four goals that show the range of his abilities and persistence
