The final game of the league season,and this match served two purposes. 1. To secure third place in what has been a very good second half to this exciting season, and 2. to take a view of our cup final opponents for next week and to allow the management to identify strengths and weaknesses in Goostrey, and also an idea for team selection on Wednesday.
Betley were at full strength, with all 10 players available and the game kicked off to early midfield exchanges with little offensive play in the first few minutes other than a corner kick each. However in the 4th minute following an Eve corner, a goal mouth scramble with Matt firing into the box resulted in Ben having a strike on goal and the ball running loose towards the post where that 'fox in box' Sam was lurking, Sam stuck out a left leg and in it went! 1-0 to Tigers. Another game with an early Tigers goal, which is starting to become a very good habit to have!
Betley were comfortable for the majority of the first period, both Eve and Matt having runs on the flanks, a free kick went wide, whilst at the other end Bryan was relatively untroubled. towards the end though, Goostrey had 2 corners in succession, resulting in good defending by Lol and Mark, playing the ball safely out of defense, the period ended with Tigers 1-0 up.
Period 2 began with 3 changes, Arron came on the wing to replace Matt, Max went on up front for Sam and Alex made a switch with Mark at the back. Goostrey came out with an early corner which was well defended, the ball running back into the middle for Ben to feed Arron whose run, and cross into the box seemed to strike the hand of a Goostrey defender, another game, another referee may well of awarded a penalty, which would of changed the course of this game, however, it was not given and play went on.
In the 16th minute, Ben suffered from a heavy tackle and the game was stopped for treatment and a 'shoelace' break! Ben got up to feed Eve and the ball went for a corner which Eve took one of her famous inswingers which went close. During this second period Goostrey were starting to look more dangerous and some half chances went to their tall number 14, maybe one to watch out for in the cup final? Still, the period ended with Betley chances, Max was clean through which was saved for a corner, then Max shot again which the keeper saved.
In the final period the management made some different changes to the formation, which disrupted the flow of the team play, however it ensured all the squad got enough time on the field for this, the last game of the season. Bryan came out of goal and swapped with Max, Matt came back on for Eve and Mark came on for Ben. this left Betley with 3 defenders on the pitch and Alex found himself on the wing for the first time in a forward position!
Alex, to his credit had a fantastic run down the wing full of determination, resulting in some sustained pressure by Betley which unfortunately came to little. Goostrey were attacking now more and more and a good save by Max at the feet of their number 14 again. Arron cleared of the line and the ball was pushed through the middle to Bryan whose run and fierce shot made the keeper fumble and dispite a right scramble, Betley could not force the ball over the line for a second, and what would of been at that time, decisive goal to kill the game off.
With the opportunity gone, Betley were made to pay for not finishing the game and Goostrey went up the other end of the pitch and following a goal mouth scramble, their little number 11 scored with a low shot under Max. Things got worse straight from the re start as within a minute Goostrey had gone 2-1 ahead, another defensive error, scramble again and that no' 14 who had been a threat all game, toe poking the ball past Max.
The 're vamped' team were now struggling and in the 35th and last minute, a breakaway by Goostreys number 9, resulted in him rounding Max to tap into an empty net and the Tigers were defeated, all though a 3-1 scoreline against was not a true reflection of how tight the game had been.
As I write this column, the result of the teams below us in the league are not yet known, so here's hoping todays defeat has not dropped us down a position to 4th, and we can end the season in that 3rd place, which would be nice. But, more importantly now, with the 'big' cup final looming on Wednesday, our management have had a very good look at the opposition and whilst it was not nice to lose today, I think we have an outstanding chance to repay this result and to come out triumphant in the Final..........time will tell and this reporter will be armed with pad and pen for ultimate write up of the Betley Tiger success story this season!
Bring it on!!!
