Man of the Match- Steve Bird
Goal of the Match- Dan Haley’s superb volley from a superb pass
Save of the Match- Greenwich keeper’s tip over from Aaron’s free kick
Moment of the Match- Greenwich manager’s assessment that Mark should have been booked for explaining the trajectory of the ball
After being in brief doubt, Bexley Athletics’ away fixture occurred with a delayed kick off. Frosty conditions changed to boggy conditions in an action backed game. Off the back of an excellent cup win, Bexley were looking to carry this momentum into the league to keep the pressure on the teams above them. The away side would also be mindful that Greenwich Mariners had beat them 1-0 a few months previous.
New signing Aaron would start from the bench alongside the returning Elton. With Tom Prott absent, Laurie was moved to left back with Adam drafted into midfield and Matt Bennett doing a shift for the team playing out of position on the left of midfield.
From kick off Greenwich looked average at best. Bexley took full advantage of this and controlled much of the first half, eventually inflicting catastrophic damage on the score line. Sean’s initial effort slowly spinning wide would just be a slighter, as from the back Bexley very impressively passed the ball through Greenwich who could not venture out their own half in the opening exchanges. Sean had a header saved then the goalkeeper was forced into a furthr decent save down at his near post early on but he was only preventing the inevitable.
Receiving the ball in the midfield, Adam played a superb ball into Dan Haley. We held our breath. Dan drew the goalkeeper and fired it low into the net. A fine all round goal. The dominance continued. Mark supported by Steve was getting the better of any counter attack down the right, and Sean was displaying his usual aerial dominance. After another few attempts including Matt’s volley and James in on goal just being beaten to the ball by the goalkeeper, the lead was doubled. A corner was put it and a scramble ensued. The ball fell to Matt who hit the ball sweetly through the players and goalkeeper.
Any rare ventures towards the Bexley box were comfortably cut out by some controlled defending. Greenwich only managed a hopeful volley high and over in the first half. Their defensive frailty would be exploited for a third time as Sean picked up the ball in the centre circle and dinked the ball forward and informed Dan he was in on goal. Dan with confidence and precision volleyed the ball over the on rushing keeper.
Half time after a satisfactory first half, but a Greenwich backlash was predicted. No changes were made as Bexley aimed to keep control of the game. As predicted, Greenwich found an extra gear in the second half. The game had now evened out and the midfield battle commenced. Bexley had less opportunities on goal despite James Hall chasing down every ball. Bexley absorbed the pressure well. A free kick almost caught Dan out which went wide, and a free header was a let off as it was straight at the keeper. The angry Scottish man was also in but missed under pressure from Kev.
Aaron came on for his debut on the left midfield pushing Matt up front with Dan withdrawing after an impressive display. Greenwich were getting closer, a near post save by Dan prevented the gap from being closed, but Aaron almost had an immediate impact with a decent effort from the free kick tipped over. Another shot by Greenwich narrowly wide then Greenwich made the break through. An unfortunate hand ball by Mark produced a free kick 20 yards out. Greenwich cleverly entered the wall, and the player rather simply put the ball in the net with Dan completely out of position.
Plenty of the game to go, plenty of defending to do. Greenwich were looking to cut in from the Bexley right, and were slowly dragging players out of position. Bexley were working their way up the pitch without really testing the goalkeeper. Dan’s drop and block from a throw gave Greenwich and opportunity, just after saving from close range with the defence sweeping up. The closest they came was the angry Scottish man tricking himself allowing the team to get back to protect the goal via a mini pile up with the ball finding its way into Dan’s hands. Sean’s constant dialogue with the referee broke the game up slightly. The final chance of the game fell to Bexley as Elton was put through but only found the goalkeeper despite team mates to his right seemingly with an open goal.
That’s 5 wins from the last 6 league games, scoring 16 and conceding 3. Two points gained on New Life and Junior Reds above us, and a decent performance to take into the next game against Charlton and Eltham casuals who sit mid table and we beat 5-1 at the start of November. Clearly some issues need to be resolved before this, which will probably be dealt with in house. On the pitch, clearly the form is excellent. If we play like we did in the last two games, we should easily make that cup final.
