Meredith Road Humbled – ‘At Last’
However poor Meredith Road’s start to the season has been, Affinity suspected that they would need to be at their best to overcome their old foes. Meredith started with the traditional 4-3-3 that has caused us so many problems in the past; but today was destined to be Affinity’s day.
The first half was a typically tight affair. Lots of passion from both sides, a limited number of chances and few strange decisions from the referee. For once Affinity were first to score with Lee finishing off a team move. Meredith came into the game more at this stage and equalised with a hopeful shot come cross from 30 yards.
The half time team talk was more upbeat than in previous Meredith games with expectation of scoring more goals definitely the focus for the second 45 minutes.
The second half turned into a different affair. Simply put Affinity won all of the personal battles on the pitch and with the midfield imposing themselves and providing a constant supply line to Mike C and Lee this match was going to end in only one result, the only question would be the size of the win.
Fine personal goals and team moves resulted in six further goals for Affinity by Cordens; Lee scoring a further three, Mike C opening his season’s tally with a brace and a fine goal by Ian. Meredith’s shape fell apart as Affinity dominated possession and made the game look simple. Uncle Seamus leaving the fray didn’t help Meredith’s cause. Defensively Affinity were sound again with only Matt King looking dangerous. Affinity will be disappointed with conceding his two second half goals but they would not put anything more than a blemish on the team performance.
Difficult to pick a man of the match out of the pack. James probably had his best all round performance in the 15 shirt. Offensively his passing was accurate all day and defensively gave the Meredith left side very little opportunity to go forward. Ian continues to go from strength to strength and Mike and Lee were clinical in front of goal giving the Meredith defence a torrid time.
The final whistle brought scenes of joy from the Affinity boys and a Phil Brown style dressing down for the Meredith lads. This was a sweet victory, not just for the team performance on the day but also reward for previous performances against Meredith that yielded nothing.
