Athletico Excelsior kick off a brand new season with expectation knowing it will be a physical battle with Bispham Hotel. Pre season had shown some encouraging signs and every player was looking forward to attempting to turn the faults of last season around.
Excelsior k.o.
4 mins - Disallowed goal opponents no.9 (offside)
5 mins - Chance no.9 through on goal Ant saves comfortably
6 mins - Ant plays a long ball from keeper kick bounces over defender and Andy battles in space only able to head the ball straight at oppositions keeper
9 mins - Bispham on attack again. Volley by no.16 from corner is blasted over the bar.
10 mins - Edge of the area opportunity from good build up play for Bisphams no.3 struck from the edge of the area just wide.
First ten minutes and Excelsior are on the back foot. Struggling to deal with multiple through balls from a pacey Bispham side. Defence for Excelsior was tested to its fullest. Chris Davies and Ben Davies showing true strength and ability throughout.
11 mins - Great defensive tackle from Sean Lonsdale stopping inevitable opportunity on goal.
13 mins - Another long keeper kick bounces towards Bisphams area headed through by Sean and Will attempts an outrageous lob that bounces agonisingly wide.
15 mins - Clash of the Titans. Banny and Bisphams no.5 meet in the middle of the park and decide to play nipple tennis with the ball. Banny won! Absolutely hilarious!
20 mins - Five minutes of quiet play tusseling for possession.
22 mins - A brilliant through ball from Ricky leaves Andy one on one with the keeper. Andy tries a simply amazing lob and hits the post, Sean Lonsdale is screaming in acres of space and in front of an open goal. Sorry Andy in my opinion you should have squared it...but the jurys out.
24 mins - Great link up play Carey, Banny and Sean. Ends with a chance for Carey. Volleyed well keeper makes a great save.
25 mins - Counter attack and opponents no.10 is in acres. Late out Ant makes up for it with a quality instinctive save.
27 mins - Great run from Carey after winning the ball superbly. Takes on three players but is tackled but still manages to squeeze the ball through to Banny who takes a touch and buries it in the bottom corner. 0-1
32 mins - Frustating periods of play lead to a typical Lonsdale 50 yard attempt. On target but no real trouble for the keeper. Keep trying Seany!
35 mins - Great save from Ant again having a great first half with numerous brilliant saves all from the opponents no.9.
38 mins - Good corner from Andy finds Sean in space but flashes the ball high and wide from 15 yards.
40 mins - Great ball from Will finds Andy with a free header ten yards out he puts just a couple of feet over the bar.
43 mins - Corner for Bispham and the big no. 5 in space heads just over Excelsiors goal.
45 mins - Half Time
Excelsior have been better throughout this first half. Having periods of comfortable possession however space had been exploited from mistakes that could be avoided by simple quality play. That said Bispham had a lot of chances and looked extremely dangerous at points. The stand out players of the half were Ben, Chris, Carey, Roxby, Sean, Ant and Banny.
Bispham k.o.
47 mins - Bispham starts strong and a lofted through ball puts there no.9 through again but Ant sees the ball and smacks the attacker straight in the nose. Now that is one way to stop a shot coming on goal.
53 mins - A long throw causes confusion in the Excelsior defence and the ball in scrambled into the net for the Bispham equaliser. 1-1
56 mins - 65 mins not a lot happening with solid play and good defending all round. Probably a required restbite in what has been a game played at break neck speed.
65 mins - sub Carey Baird off - Luke Noble on
66 mins - Chance falls for Will edge of the area half volley hit high and wide.
70 mins - Ant struggles to deal with a high ball and after a decent save the rebound falls to a Bispham attacker who lobs Ant. Ricky is covering on the line and tries to clear with a header only to finish brilliantly in his own bottom corner. Ricky was not to blame, shocking team play lead to the extra pressure. 2-1
72 - Banny collects a clearance from Ant takes a small touch and absoluetly smacks it from 45 yards beating the keeper hands down and smashing the crossbar. New addition Luke gathers the rebound and slips when attempting his shot rolling into a waiting keepers arms.
73 mins - Excelsior are started to look jaded and Bispham are more on top than ever. A freekick is given away and Bispham launch the ball into the box. Excelsior are ill prepared and an attacker is unmarked and calmly heads it home. 3-1
75 mins - Through ball from Banny to Luke who takes on the keeper and despite two players covering slots it past the languishing defenders. Great goal. 3-2
78 mins - A high ball is poorly dealt with by the Bispham defence and despite four clear cut chances on goal Excelsior are unable to convert the equaliser.
82 mins - Tired legs and lacklustre defending leads to a fourth for Bispham. Brilliantly finished after a series of unfortuate bounces from a goalmouth scramble. 4-2
83 mins - Unable to recover it turns bad to worse quickly. A cross from the left is dispatched by a free header from great build up play. 5-2
88 mins - Great run by Luke taking on five players to attack the goal. Tackled at the last moment winning a corner that was subsequently wasted.
90 mins - Long throw is allowed to land in the area a now panic stricken defence is finding it more and more difficult to deal with a Bispham onslaught and it finds a midfielder waiting to put the ball away with the last kick of the game. 6-2
Summary
A good show in the firrst half Excelsior played with heart, passion and belief. Unfortunately that belief was held to ransom in the second half by weariness and a lack of controlled football. Bispham were definitely the better team but Excelsior do have positives to take from the game being the more classy team for long periods in the game. Bispham deserved the win but not the final scoreline which was more than generous.
