To come off the pitch today without victory was a huge disapointment, to have gone down to a four-one loss was almost incredible. In the opening half we laid seige to the Ducklingon goal but found a keeper in inspired form as he single handedly kept us at bay with some amazing shot stopping. Chris Davies was largely a spectator but when called upon he flung himself full length to show that he hasn't lost his goalkeeping skills in his first game back in goal since returning to the club. Twice Chris denied the home striker diving down at his feet and gathering the ball. Other than those three first half scares we were totally in command. Keiron and Tom were giving the Ducklington defenders the run-around but the final outcome was becoming predictable, if on target the keeper was saving and often we were just wide of the mark. George, Ollie, Jake and Harlie all went close as we pressed and pressed for a way through. Georges' fantastic effort at last beat the keeper but as was our luck today the ball cannoned back out off the underside of the bar. With no Tyler the poacher on hand to bury any rebounds we were struggling to get to the bits and pieces that would normally break our way. Harlie came close in the last moments of the first half but his shot was hacked off the line and we came in all square. Our back four of Owen, Joe, Ned and Jake C had put up a real difficult barrier for the home side to break down and it was very obvious to see the frustration growing in the Ducklington camp.
The mood and the game completely swung just seconds after the break. We conceded posession on half way and were left rueing our missed chances when Ducklington stormed forward and finished clinically. We were now chasing the game and twice had opportunities to level but one wide shot and another fine save kept us behind. A second goal for the visitors made our task harder and we introduced Callum O'shea to give us fresh momentum on the left flank. George blasted a freekick goalward after a Duck defender had deliberately handled on the edge of the penalty area. The keeper pulled off another stunning save to pull the shot from almost inside the net and Callum gleefully smashed home the loose ball to give us real hope. Soon after our big chance to draw level came and went, George sent over another sweet corner and Tom stole in at the back post but headed over from four yards out. Ducklington were formidable in front of goal and wasted little opportunity to get their shots off scoring a third goal against the run of play after a long period of sustained pressure from us. At three -one down Jake M saw another close range effort blocked on the line and hacked to safety . Ned swapped jobs with Keiron as the midfielder began to tire and still we pressed for a lifeline before finally conceding late in the game. The shot count, corner count and posession count will tell a very different story to the final score, but scoring goals is the only thing that counts when the points are all totalled up. There was some great football played today , we were inventive at set plays and strong throughout but we need to find that killer touch in front of goal that our opponents showed against us today. We can take far more positives from this loss , pull our socks up and give it a real go next week, thanks for all your efforts today.
