Casuals and Pelham worked their absolute socks off as they beat Brewers FC 3-2 at home. With their lowest turn out of the season and some big players missing, the remaining 13 knew they would have to step up and be counted for. Pelham started very brightly and every player on the pitch was organised, talking and 100% up for it. Pelham created some real decent chances in the first 10 minutes and came closest when Dan Boyce struck a long range effort from outside the box which was tipped over by the finger tips of the oppositions keeper. However from the resulting corner the first goal of the game came as Mark Jolley got free of his marker and headed home to put Pelham 1-0 up. Pelham had their tails up and continued to push forward and create chances most notably Rob Parrish coming close. There were some good phases of play from Pelham and that was key in the second goal as some good link up play from Adam Notley, Paul Knight and Dan Boyce down the right hand side where the latter then pulled the ball back to Rob Parrish to hit it home and make it 2-0. As well as creating their own chances for the rest of the half, Pelham did ride their luck and Brewers came close on several occasions at the end of the first half, twice hitting the woodwork. There were also some top saves from Dan Monk inbetween the sticks and he played a big part in keeping it at 2-0 until half time.
No changes were made at the half with the same 11 taking to the pitch. Pelham started brightly once again for the first 5 minutes of the second half creating more chances. However the work rate they put in for the first half took its toll and the tempo started to drop. Brewers took full advantage of that and slowly started to get back into the game. They halved the deficit on 53 minutes when a strike from just outside the box found its way into the corner of the Pelham net. Pelham needed to pick themselves back up again and continue on from the good work they had done so far. However they continue to ride their with Brewers hitting the woodwork a further 2 times and once again Dan Monk making some outstanding saves. The next goal was vital and unfortunately it went to Brewers, Dan Boyce was caught in possession on the half way line and from there they hit Pelham on the break finishing the move off calmy to equal the scores at 2-2. A few Pelham heads started to drop as they had worked so hard but they were soon picked up by the others around them and the team spirit showed today. Pelham continued to battle and slowly crept back into the game. Finally they got what they deserved as some good build up play again found Rob Parrish on the right hand side of the pitch and he managed to do some good work to create half a yard of space for himself where he cut the ball across the area where an unmarked Dan Boyce was found and he cooly/slowly (alright piss takingly slowly) slotted the ball into the back of the net. With just 10 minutes left on the clock Pelham knew it was going to be backs to the wall defending for the last part of the game and they held firm and did exactly what they had to do. However, there was to be some last gasp drama as Brewers were very wrongly afforded a penalty in the 94th minute as their striker threw himself to the floor without receiving any form of challenge from a Pelham player (literally couldnt tell you who gave it away or what it was given for). But with Pelham having a lot of luck in front of their own goal and Dan Monk having the game of his life, it felt like it was going to be Casuals and Pelhams day. Sure enough to top off the performance of Dan Monk, he dived to his right and made a great save to preserve Pelhams lead. That penalty ended up being the last kick of the game and justice had been done as Pelham got the full 2 points on a performance that completely deserved it.
There could have been 13 man of the matches today as absolutely everyone put in a shift and worked so hard, but as much as the goals were important for Pelham, so were the saves at the other end, and rightly so Dan Monk was named as Micks man of the match. Seriously great performace from everyone against a tough team and everyone who was there today put their own case forward to start next week and keep some of the big players out of the team and on the bench. The unbeaten start continues and we keep putting the pressure on Saffron Hawks, waiting for them to slip up.
