Guidepost denied late on, in 6 goal thriller! All of the boys should have their heads held high, as it was an excellent battling and highly skilled performance against last seasons premier league side Ponteland.
The passing football from both sides was a joy to watch, and there was no quarter given either in terms of agression in what was a entertaining highly charged game, with a draw probaby just about being the right result.
As we seem to do, we started the game slowly, and Ponteland were much the sharper side, and Aaron was called up to deal with a long low shot after 2 minutes. While generally we struggled to get going, and so it was no surprise when Ponteland opened the scoring on five minutes, a good hard high shot was parried to the side by Aaron but the Ponteland player was very composed and shot the loose ball hard into the net. At this stage it looked like we could be in for a long day, and a heavy defeat, but not to worry as the boys clicked into gear, and started passing the ball nicely.
Elliott had a couple of long shots, and Joseph had a very good run that had Ponteland on the back foot. The game now was swinging from end to end, but the back three of Sam, James and Aaron were superb with dealing with the lively Ponteland attackers. While we had a couple of free kicks in promising positions, Joseph shooting high into the wall, then Elliott shooting into the wall but the ball then fell nicely to Elliott, who managed to get it into space and the get a superb shot away into roof of net. 1-1
Ponteland bounced back and were a constant threat, and they regained the lead on 11 minutes, a corner was blocked, and then Ponteland player looked up passed nicely to his team mate at the edge of the box, who got a good shot away and a deflection managed just to deny Elliott the block on the line. 2-1 end of 1st.
Second quarter and again it was pretty much end to end stuff from two good attacking sides, Sam & James were reading everything so well at the back, while up front, Joseph, Josh & Elliott were combining well to cause them problems. Joseph had a good run, and Josh got a good shot away that just went wide. Joseph soon after had a shot go wide, more good football put Dylan away, but his shot was blocked. Sam then made one of many stunning long runs from the back, to go with his excellent defensive work. Ponteland were causing us lots of problems with good passing, and their midfielder was about to score in the 21st minute when Joseph tracking back got a superb last ditch tackle in to deny them. End of the 2nd quarter 2-1.
Ponteland spurred on by their coaches, started the third on fire, a free kick just going wide, and a couple of minutes later, another fine shot just fizzing past the post. We continued to battle away, and Joseph was leading the line well, and playing some lovely combination football with Josh, Harry & Elliott, great stuff. It was though a piece of individual brilliance from Elliott that got us level on the 35th minute, well outside the box Elliott hit a stunning long high shot which the keeoer could only push on to the inside of the bar and went just over the line. That's why we always encourage the boys to shoot. Ponteland went close a few times but were denied by Aaron or the ball just going wide. End of third 2-2.
Final quarter and it was anyones game, as both sides didn't take a backward step, pressing forward to win the game. Both defences held out to the 43rd minute, when Dylan pounced on a miss kick, and got a good shot away which was deflected into the goal to give us a 3-2 lead. Rather than sitting back, we kept pushing on and went close to extending the lead with the midfield and striker linking up well, at the back, they continued to batter away at our defence, but Sam & James were on top form. The pressure though did finally pay off, breaking with pace a lovely through ball to the right of the box, and a stunning low strike right accross and in off the inside of the left hand post, nothing our defence or Aaron could have done, just a really well worked goal.
With a minute and half to go, rather than feel sorry for ourselves, we went up the other end, with Elliott and Joseph both forcing cracking saves from the Ponteland keeper, while our heroic defence snuffed out the danger, and the referee blew the whistle to end the heart stopping game of football.
We had played probably our best game of football ever, and had gone so close to getting a notable victory, all of the boys should be proud of themselves, and take this forward and start to believe in themselves. Aaron - Good solid game, James - back to very best, superb. Sam - Inspirational at the back, great runs, got the nod from the Ponteland coach as MOM. Elliott - two superb goals, all action display, keep your head up at all times. Harry - Backed up excellent form in training with strong first game in midfield. Josh - Battled well 1st quarter on, good tocuhes unlcuky not to score. Dylan - NEED TO WATCH THE TACKLES, on the positive side some good skills, hold up play, and took goal well. Joseph - Attitude generally better today, but needs to be better in training also, cracking game, superb vision in laying off/passing and strong in tackle.
Our coaches MOM decision is to give it to the WHOLE TEAM, because you all played a part in a good team performance. Lets train well and listen to coaches on Tuesday, then kick on and go into next weeks game against Newcastle Porto in high spirits. Well done all!
