The first game of 2013 and we all knew that it would be a tough one. Newark started brightly and had the first shot after just 39 seconds, although it sailed well wide of Will's goal. It quickly became a battle of midfield with neither team taking any advantage until the 7th minute when Xander, in the left midfield role, blasted a shot just wide. James Scott managed the first shot on target on 11 minutes but it was easily saved.
Newark continued to mix the passing game with punts forward to Clayton, their striker, for him to latch onto and run at Farndon's defenders. It was a clever tactic that worked for them throughout the first half. With our defence continually pushing too far up the field and not enough strong tackling going on in midfield, there were several times that the ball sailed overhead into danger areas. It was only a matter of time before one would land at Clayton's feet and no defender would catch him. The Newark Town goal came in just that way on 23 minutes, and only moments after the Farndon supporters thought they'd seen a breakthrough with 3 quickfire shots on target from Dylan and then Tom.
The Farndon boys started to realise that they might need to do a little more and shake off the effects of too much Christmas pudding and, in the last 5 minutes of the half, we saw a few more tackles, a lot more covering for each other and some great crosses from Ben, one of which resulted in a well-taken shot from Jake. Their goalkeeper made one of many fine saves today, resulting in him being given the Man of the Match award for Newark. With about 15 seconds to go to half-time, Archie stepped forward and collected the rebound from Ben Wilson's corner, blasting it into the net. The half-time whistle came as soon as Newark Town kicked off. It was an opportunity to regroup, consider what wasn't working and decide how to put it right.
And Farndon did put it right. In the second half, Tom broke into a sweat and put in some crunching tackles. James Wilson again showed his 'never say die' attitude and chased down everything. Max and Dylan covered every blade of grass in the opposition half and got back when they were needed. They both run at players for fun now and just need a little more confidence to let fly with shots without always taking the extra touch. They left several players on the floor as they dodged tackles and twisted and turned.
Henry's passing and tackling just gets better and better. He got in several crucial tackles and some great crosses. Newark were held to just a few shots wide of the mark and one on target comfortably saved by Will in the second half. At the other end, we had 7 shots, four of them on target.
In the end, it was a creditable draw and a useful point. The referee should be commended for runninga great game. The big crowd were impressed by the football. Well done boys. Next week we meet an unknown quantity, Long Bennington, for our last home league game of the season.
