Casuals and Pelham made it 5 wins out of 5 in pre season as they ran out 2-0 winners at home against Sawbridgeworth Town FC. Once again Pelham turned up with a small number of bodies, but with it being a bank holiday weekend we'll give the benefit of the doubt. With only 12 men and the sun beaming down on the players harshly, Pelham knew it would be a tough game against an always competitive Sawbridgeworth Town FC. The first half was very evenly contested and a game of very few chances. Pelham did manage to get behind the away teams defence of a few occassions but their quality lacked in the final third and didn't really test the opposition keeper. Sawbridgeworth Town were also limited to shots from outside the box due to the defensive display of the home side, however they did manage to get two big opportunities towards the end of the half. Pelhams legs were tiring towards the end of the half and some nice football from Sawbridgeworth Town saw them get into the box and get a decent shot off early. A good save from Cal Lynskey was parried out which was followed up by the away teams striker. Lynskey came running off his line and made the block from the second shot making a fantastic double save in quick succession. That was the biggest chance of the first half and both teams went into the break level at 0-0. Pelham needed more in the second half and their performance towards the end of the first half looked laboured, the game was there for the taking but they knew they would have to up their performance if they wanted the win. The game continued to be a pretty even contest but it was Pelham who broke the deadlock. A good recovery tackle from Grant Clark saw him burst through the middle of the park and take on a couple of Sawbridgeworth Town players, muscling his way past them and playing a ball through for Lee Cuddeford, who took a couple of touches and slotted past the keeper, 1-0 to Pelham. However Sawbridgeworth Town came back strong and had some good chances of their own. The away side could easily have levelled the game on a few occassions, however a solid back line was hard to break down, but when they were breached the away side were up against a keeper on a mission to keep his clean sheet, with some fantastic goalkeeping from Cal Lynskey. Lynskey would make 5 or 6 huge saves in the second half and really keep Pelham in the game. However Pelham had a couple of chances theirself, with Lee Cuddeford missing the best opportunity, and Tim Shaw and Ant Hamilton-Pilot coming close with headers. However the game would be wrapped up in the 90th minute, long throw from Steve Drake found the head of Adam Notley who connected well and stuck the ball in the top corner, 2-0 to Pelham. That would turn out to be the last opportunity of the game and the final whistle went with Pelham making it 5 wins from 5 and winning 2-0. There were some brilliant performances today, pretty much from everyone and man of the match could well have been a close call between Tim Shaw, Liam Perry, Matt Boyce or Ant Hamilton-Pilot. However Cal Lynskey was in formidable form and for me won the game for Pelham with some of the saves he made. He also started a lot of moves out from the back, and his distribution all over the park was fantastic.
