Florist came into the game on a high after last week’s win over Shorewick United, but Tristan Mann’s warning against complacency would end up being more profound than anyone could imagine.
Despite Charlie Carter not being ready to start the game, the team came out superbly.They dominated the early moments of the game and when Morph’s shot deflected off the goalkeeper, it left Hardie with a tap in at the far post to give the Florist the lead.
This tally was soon doubled when Jack Carter won the ball in the midfield and played the ball into Hollinshead who beat a couple of men, before blasting the ball home.
Florist seemed relentless, and Hardie returned the earlier favour from Morph when he squared the ball to him and left him with an easy opportunity to slot home and surely leave the bottom of the table team in an unassailable lead.
Florist dominated the rest of the first half, Flying Time FC having to settle for a couple of pot shots which failed to test Mann in goal. Despite this there was much unrest in the Florist camp over formations and positions, at the time this seemed irrelevant because of the lead, but it would soon come to punish them.
Despite chances to extend the lead the Florist went in at half-time 3-0 up.
The second half saw Morris take a breather, and they looked comfortable for the first few minutes. But the mistakes soon creeped in, accompanied by a lack of defensive responsibility.
Flying Time broke forward and their striker shot past Mann, only to be blocked on the line by Jack Carter, before the ball came back out to him to give them a lifeline.
Florist suddenly seemed to lack options and the midfield was nowhere to be seen, Jack Carter a big miss having to play in defence. Morris came back on, but even this could not seem to shake life into the more attacking players. After a number of passes at the back between Jack Carter, Morris and Mann, without any outlet, Jack Carter played a ball back to Mann who took too long to make a decision, unaware of the pouncing striker, who got his foot to the ball and slotted home.
The pressure was now very much on. Florist once again missed opportunities, and when Charlie Carter made a superb bicycle clearance off the line, the ball came to a Flying Time player who simply wanted it more than any of the Florist players, and blasted the ball into the net for the equaliser.
Florist managed to rally again and soon won a couple of freekicks on the edge of the Flying Time area. The first blocked, but the second was struck hard by Charlie Carter into the back of the net to give Florist the lead again.
Flying Time pushed forward again looking for the equaliser, but it was to no avail, until Hollinshead picked the ball up in the midfield and delayed his pass too long to the breaking Jack Carter. His ball was blocked by the Flying Time midfielder, before they broke and found the goal for the equaliser.
The final whistle was blown almost immediately upon kick off. 3 points dropped to relegation rivals in a game which should have easily been won. Florist are now very much up against it in their fight for survival. A performance which shows that the team really has a lot of hard work ahead of them if they are ever to fulfil their potential.
