DC Steamers performed to their best to beat a good Earley United team 5-1 at Warverley Way.
We came hurtling out of the blocks and passed the ball well on the greasy surface with every player showing a good touch. Matt Ide had a lot of success down the left hand side beating the full back time after time. It was from that pressure that resulted in a corner from which Tom Wilson scored with a powerful header.
We dominated from the restart and created plenty of opportunities but our efforts were seen wide. The 2nd goal looked likely and it was provided by Matt Ide with a typical cut in from the left being smashed into the roof of the net. Earley looked shell shocked and the game looked over after Luke Buckley chased down a ball that seemed to squirm under the keeper for him to jog into the back of the net. 3-0.
DCS defended well throughout the half and kept their pacey attackers to long range efforts. As the half went on Earley picked up their performance and you could see why they were near the top of the table as some neat passes and runs began to pay off. A freekick was awarded at the edge of our box and Earley converted to Paul Moore's left to give them a glimmer of hope. Paul was disappointed with the effort but made amends with a cracking low drive that he pushed wide to give us a 2 goal cushion at half time.
We made sure our performance didn’t drop in the second half and Sam Wyatt’s headed goal, from Jonny Clifford’s cross, 10 minutes into the half made sure that Steamers were getting the 3 points and returning to the top of the table. Dan Ferris, Sam Hall and Andy Fookes all came on and we continued to play great football on a rain soaked morning. Earley couldn’t break down the defence and we looked like scoring on several attacks. Sam Hall could have added another goal to his tally but found the keeper rather than the net with his effort.
Our 5th goal came from a good team move with some individual brilliance from Jonny Clifford leaving Luke with an empty net from a yard out.
Probably the best team performance this season and individuals such as Matt Ide and Jonny Clifford deserve a mention but Man of the Match goes to Chris Challis who filled in as captain today with a captain like performance at the back to keep Earley at bay.
Great result, let’s keep it up.
