Casuals and Pelham fought back to earn a 3-3 draw away from home against Foxton Old Boys FC. Pelham and Foxton are considered early favourites for the league title (although after 3 games it's too early to tell) so Pelham knew it would be a big game! Foxton started the game strongly and instantly saw a lot of the ball are created some early chances. Pelham knew they would have to do a lot of off the ball work in your game so weren't too worried by the amount of possession they saw. The away side then started to have a couple of passages of play themselves and slowly built into the game. However just as they were, Foxton struck the first goal. A ball over the top found the home teams striker and he had an effort on goal which struck the post, however he followed up his effort and was quicker to react than the Pelham defenders, getting his reward and slotting the ball into the net, 1-0 to Foxton Old Boys! Pelham still continued to grow in the game though and started to create some chances of their own, with Dan Arran and Jamie Richards dragging wide two opportunities. However a quick counter attack saw the ball end out on the left hand side with Steve Callan. He flicked the ball round the corner and into the path of Tim Shaw, who went in one on one with the keeper and placed a perfect shot off the post and in, no chance for the keeper, 1-1. The game became an even contest and both teams had chances Foxton came close first to taking the lead from a corner as Pelham cleared their lines only for the ball to fall to Foxtons right back 25 yards out. He hit the ball first time on the half volley and the ball rocketed off the bar. Pelham then went up the other end and returned the favour, a cross from the right hand side from Adam Notley found Shane Tubridy in the box, only for his point blank effort to come back off the bar before Foxtons cleared their lines! However neither team could take any other chances in the half and the teams went in at 1-1. The second half started similar to how the first ended, with the game starting to open up and both teams getting through making chances. However Mid way through the half Foxton Old Boys started to take over, and once again saw a lot more possession and pushed for the lead once more. They took it just after the hour mark as a quick fire shot, when Adam Notley was down injured and Pelham had 10 men and a defender missing, went in at the front post, 2-1 to Foxton. 2-1 became 3-1 around 10 minutes later as a shot came in from the Foxton striker and Ant Hamilton-Pilot tried his best to keep it out but could only bundle the ball into his own net, 3-1 Foxton. Pelham needed to lift themselves and knew they had to get the next goal. Not sure if Foxton thought 3-1 was enough but they started letting Pelham back into the game. The away side started to create more counter attacking chances and get in behind the home teams defence. With around 10 minutes left, a ball over the top from Dan Boyce found Tim Shaw, who in turn found Steve Callan, his effort was deflected a couple of times, and looped over the Foxton keeper and in to the back of the net, 3-2. Five minutes later on 85 minutes the comeback was complete, some good work from Liam Perry saw him play a ball over the top to Tim Shaw, who was in a foot race with the onrushing keeper. Shaw's pace got him there first and he looped the ball over the keeper and into the top of the net to make it 3-3. Foxton tried to fight for a winner in the last minutes as did Pelham but neither side could find one and the game ended in a 3-3 draw, which overall seemed like a fair result, even though Foxton will feel disappointed for letting a 3-1 lead slip. Great fightback today lads and a good result away from joke against a top side even with players missing and a lot of injuries on the day. Everyone put in a shift today and therefore it was tough to pick a man of the match, so I feel it's on,y right to not have one this week and instead give a massive thanks to everyone playing today for putting in a shift when needed and earning a good result!!
