Boots Wednesday produced one of their best team performances of the season to beat second-placed Freebets4all FC 3-2 in Stapleford. After some pre-match confusion caused by a kit clash, Freebets4all lost their manager/best player as he left to get their away shirts from home, and referee Lord Voldemort forced them to start the match wearing the Wednesday training bibs! Boots competed for every ball from the start, and it wasn’t long before Patto had the ball in the goal after finishing off a Bally through-ball, but was narrowly given offside. Patto then fed Bally in on goal through the legs of a defender, but his low shot was well saved (before the linesman incorrectly flagged for offside). Finally Boots opened the scoring as a high ball from Simon was taken down well by Kieran, and he fed in Bally who deftly shanked the ball into the bottom right corner. Further chances fell to Boots as Freebets4all struggled to cope with the height of Paul and Fletch and the movement of the forwards, while Sweetman and Simon continued to mop up the loose balls in midfield. Paul saw 3 or 4 headed chances from Crozier's consistent corners shoot narrowly over the bar, while Brett whistled a free-kick a good yard or so wide of the goal despite their wall being rubbish. With ten minutes to go, Simon licked Patto’s balls down the right wing, and he beat his marker into the box and fired in a low cross into the “area/corridor of uncertainty” between defenders and keeper to gift Bally a simple finish at the back post and make it 2-0. At the other end Crozier, Chris, Fletch and Toobs defended resolutely and used the ball well, and Neil in goal only had one save to make the entire half as he mopped up a loose ball.
With their away kit and first choice midfield restored for the second half, Freebets4all looked more determined as Boots were forced to defend increasing pressure. However, Wednesday still looked threatening when they got the ball in the final third, and Paul flicked on a throw-in from Simon on the right to present Bally with a simple volley from 5 yards, completing his hat-trick and validating his Man of the Match award! Freebets4all soon got a goal back when their manager curled a direct free-kick around the wall and into the bottom right corner, but Boots continued to create chances and substitute Ian saw a low shot / cross stabbed on goal by Bally but was well saved after a sweeping move, while Chibbert and Kieran also kept their markers on their toes with some good runs. Spencer (after an effortless display running the line) replaced the injured Toobs and Boots continued to clear their lines competently, with only a few long range efforts worrying Neil in goal. However, with 4 minutes to go Freebets4all scored another free-kick that glanced the defensive wall and fell just inside the right post. With an equaliser in sight, Freebets4all inevitably lost their cool as the Boots defence repeatedly denied them, throwing around some late challenges and showering the referee with a tirade of abusive language following one particular crunching Fletch header. The behaviour eventually merited two yellow cards and ran out the remaining time to confirm an impressive Boots victory.
