A much improved performance from Monkton Villa yielded a well deserved 3-3 draw against Consett.
All 7 players played their part in a hard fought match and a number of players showed a good attitude when asked to play a new position.
It was a warm, sunny morning and the pitch was rock hard and Monkton had to deal with a bouncing ball. After a spell of pressure down the right hand side Monkton took a deserved lead through Ben Rodgers. As players were drawn to the ball Brady took a long throw into the box and Rodgers allowed the ball to bounce across in front of him so that it sat up for a left foot volley which Rodgers placed neatly in the far top corner. This was a deserved reward for the way Ben had started the match and he went on to have a good half, forcing a number of corners down the left which Monkton were unlucky not to score from. After a couple of goalmouth scrambles where the ball didn’t drop for Monkton, Consett eventually broke and ran the length of the pitch to equalise.
Dylan Oxley in goal then made a great save to deny Consett the lead before half time.
Monkton made some changes at half time and unlike the previous match where positional changes seemed to disrupt the team – this week Monkton carried on as they had the first half.
Consett took the lead from a kick-off to make it 2-1 but Monkton continued to attack and defended well as a team when they had to. Cameron Bevan scored a brilliant goal from fully 30 yards out to equalise and deservedly make it 2-2. It was a great strike; left-footed and on the half volley. A reward for shooting for first time! Monkton continued to attack and Consett occasionally threatened on the break. Alfie Kish by this time was doing a great job in central midfield, defending and attacking with real purpose. Dylan Oxley was putting in some great tackles on the left and joining the attack at the right times. Isaac Saint was tackling superbly well and both Brady and Kieran Mellish were tracking back well – to prevent Consett scoring the way they had their first goal. Cameron Bevan, encouraged by his great goal, started working really hard to do his defensive midfield duties as well as the attacking he enjoys so much. When Consett did get past Monkton’s defence Ben Rodgers made a number of good saves, coming off his line well to put pressure on Consett’s attackers. Unfortunately Consett did score from one of their breaks to make it 3-2, getting the luck of the bounce in a goalmouth scramble after a save by Rodgers for an easy tap-in. If only Monkton had similar luck in the goalmouth!
Brady went close with a free kick before Monkton forced a corner from which the equaliser came. Alfie Kish’s movement in the penalty area and the presence of Oxley, Bevan and Mellish in the box caused panic and when Brady fired the corner into the six yard box it was diverted into the net by a Consett player. Despite the coach thinking it was an own goal the dubious goals panel have generously awarded the goal to Brady, who, like the rest of the team, had played much better this week.
Despite the Consett coach saying that Monkton deserved to win a draw was perhaps a fair result – and the coach was delighted with attitude, effort and performance of the team.
Well done lads!
Special thanks to Dylan and Ben for going in goal in very difficult conditions.
