Avonmouth knew that if the results went their way they could end the day as champions of Division 2. With this in mind they started on the front foot & got the early breakthrough after only 5 minutes. A throw into the penalty area was headed onwards by Mitch Harris & it landed perfectly for Jeriel Riches who produced a good finish hitting the ball low into the corner of the net. This should have spurred Avonmouth on but after dominating the first 15 minutes they let the Saints back into the match. The home side began to put Avonmouth under some pressure especially from corners & free kicks which were dangerous & causing some problems. However, Avonmouth survived this period & ended the first half on top with shots on goal by Harris & Luke French unable to find the net. Just before the break some good passing football left Sam Reynolds putting a good pass through for Harris whose low drive was saved by the keeper.
Half Time: St Nicholas (A) 0 Avonmouth 1
The Avonmouth half time team talk by coaches Beecham & Day stressed the need to up the tempo & put more effort into the performance. The point was also made to keep the ball on the floor & pass it around which was not done often enough in the first half. This had the desired effect & within 2 minutes of the restart it was 2 – 0. Good play on the left hand side between Mitch Day & Charlie Parker enabled Day to clip in an excellent cross which was eventually put away by French close in. Goal number 3 came 5 minutes later when a Josh Beecham corner seemed to elude everyone & went into the net via Reynolds. However it appears the ball had already gone in before he got the final touch so the goal was officially given to Beecham. Avonmouth were now in control of the match but on 53 minutes they lost possession in midfield & a clever ball over the top gave Lloyd Carter the chance to run on & coolly place the ball pass the advancing keeper Callum Davis into the net. Another Saints goal now could have made the game interesting, however Avonmouth maintained control & had various attempts at goal without hitting the net. On 68 minutes a cross from the right from Harris caused confusion in the Saints defence & Montel Riches was bundled over with the referee awarding a penalty. Up stepped the normally reliable Harris but he saw his shot saved by the keeper. However Harris was to get his revenge in injury time. A good cross by Parker found Riches (M) whose pass allowed Harris to put the ball into the net again from close in.
Although again not entirely at their best, Avonmouth managed to get another good result away from home. We try to play good passing football & when we do we can open teams up & create many chances to score. We probably did not do this often enough today but St Nicholas did not make it easy & battled hard for every ball. All the other results did not go our way today but one more win will see us promoted as division 2 champions.
Full Time: St Nicholas (A) 1 Avonmouth 4
