This report is a little difficult to write, as refereeing the game did not allow my usual view of the game. It did, however, give me a very different perspective in terms of the communication and encouragement the lads gave each other. It was a tough game, with a definite element of spice and I thought the lads behaved impeccably, battled fairly and were on top for the majority of the game.
Tonbridge defended well and hit us on the break, keeping our defensive unit on their toes. Jamie was his usual assured self in goal, pulling off a couple of cracking saves. Robbie was unlucky not score from a neat header early in the first half and Luke created some great opportunities with his movement up front.
Playing 4-4-2, there was far more activity down the wings on Sunday. Great team work from both Bradley and Dean, as well as Max and James, really showing that we have variety in our attacking options. Jack and Toby had strong performances in the middle, great voice again from Jack. In fact, there is a lot more chat between the lads than we hear from the side lines all over the pitch which was fantastic to witness.
Our first goal was a little lucky, in so far as it was an own goal. Credit to James for powering in the cross, which deflected off one of the Tonbridge defenders. The best moment of the match came only two minutes later when Max broke forward from the left and hammered in a shot from well outside of the box, high into the next. The Tonbridge keeper had no chance and we were 2-0 up.
There were two controversial moments in the match, one not seen by me (the ref), where credit goes to Toby for not retaliating. The second, a potential penalty incident and all credit goes to our ever impartial linesman Chris Beany for clarifying the situation. Drop ball the final outcome.
Swiftly moving on…another week where all round team performance definitely earned 66 the win. Performances of note, Jack Beany in the centre for the second week in a row, but for raising his game in training and bringing that performance into a match situation MOTM went to Bradley. Bradley made a number of intelligent runs, encouraged Dean to overlap, crossed and shot with both feet, really good to see.
Well done lads.
DP
