Boots produced a solid but unspectacular performance to see off Inn the Bank in near-perfect soggy Sunday morning conditions. After the default frenzied start, Boots looked the more dangerous as the pace of Rowan up front began to worry their defence, and he was forced to endure Inn the Bank’s rough tactics as the opposition attempted to break up the attacking moves with late challenges. Boots wisely stayed calm, and a long-ball from Pete released Ian Dean down the centre, who out-muscled his marker and coolly finished with an early shot past the onrushing keeper for his first goal since returning to the club! Boots continued to put the occasional move together, and Pete released Ian again (this time down the right) but his shot was parried wide, while Rowan had a goal disallowed for an extremely harsh offside call. Sicky and Pete both came close with direct free-kicks, while Griff and Simon hassled in midfield to win back the ball. Inn the Bank produced few chances as Chibbert, Patto, Fletch and Hawrylak kept them at bay with a strong defensive performance, with Phil mopping up the hopeful crosses and long balls. Just before half-time a mix-up between Rowan and Fletch presented Inn the Bank with their best chance from 3 yards out, but Phil athletically saved the ball with an out-stretched leg.
Against a riled opposition, the Boots midfield struggled to get hold of the ball for the opening 15 minutes of the second half, but Inn the Bank couldn’t turn possession into chances as their forward balls were repelled time and again. On the one occasion that they did get behind the Boots defence, Phil produced an excellent one-handed save to tip the goal-bound shot wide. Boots extended their lead when Ian took down a corner at the far post and rolled the ball back to Pete, who struck a cracking shot through a crowd of players (taking a deflection en route) to beat the unsighted keeper, giving Allaway his third goal in the last three games. Fresh legs from the bench in the form of Crozier, Dave Eite and Danny allowed Boots to stretch the game as Inn the Bank continued to commit men forward, and Danny and Rowan both saw shots drift narrowly wide after excellent build-up play, while a forward run from Patto ended with his on-target shot being smothered by the keeper. Inn the Bank saw a volley from 2 yards and a header from a dangerous corner both soar over the bar, before Phil produced possibly the save of the season as Chibbert’s sliced clearance looked certain to lob him and nestle in the top left corner, before an acrobatic leap from Gandy denied the opposition a consolation goal!
Rowan was awarded Man of the Match for his dangerous running and ability to put up with being stamped, kicked and abused for the 90 minutes, but overall it was a scrappy game where Wednesday’s defensive resilience and extra fitness in attack made the difference!
