The team faced up to their first taste of the county cup and couldn't have got a tougher draw, being petted against Dynamo Childwall who boasted an unbeaten record in their Sunday league form.
Conditions were fantastic for a tough cup tie and the team seemed well up for what the task. Before kick off both teams observed a minutes silence to remember our fallen war hero's of the past and also the more recent conflicts. After the refs whistle brought the silence to a close the team gave a roar as they prepared for the kick off.
It was clear from the off that Dynamo are a fantastic footballing side as they dominated the ball and moved up the pitch constantly trying to create chances, but with the disciplined and organised Di Stefano team they found this a tough ask. The back 4 as they have been in the last 2 games were solid and the 2 holding midfielders frustrated their creative midfielders and forced them to go wide and the plan seemed to be working. After about 15 minutes Di Stefano took a short goal kick and with a moment of panic the ball was played across our own box and was picked up the Dynamo striker who was alert and he quickly bent it into the far corner giving Toby no chance. 1-0
With the deadlock broken Dynamo thought they could begin to steam roll the game but the battling from Oscar and George in the wide areas and Uday and Archie in the middle they kept limiting the chances but couldn't seem to create anything going forward. Dynamo need to change tact and they did getting the ball wide and trying to force their way into the box but still some great defending seemed to keep them out. eventually Dynamo got a corner and the ball was whipped in and after some scrappy stuff in the box Archie tried to clear the ball and the cleaver striker got in front of Archie and went down once he felt the contact to earn a penalty. Toby stirred out the striker and didn't flinch, the striker struck the ball down the centre and Toby stood firm and made an easy catch. Penalty saved! Just minutes later a stray tackle again went in on the tricky left winger and although he didn't go down and continued his run, once the ball went out of play the ref brought it back for a penalty deeming the advantage was lost. This time the PK was slotted into the bottom left corner giving the Toby no chance. 2-0 the rest of the half seemed to follow a similar fashion with limited breaks from Di Stefano. HALF TIME 2-0
The second half started with more space in the middle of the pitch but the wide players of Dynamo where dominating the ball and running at the defence who stood up the the challenge and following a break Di Stefano got the ball out into the opposition half and pressed the ball as Dynamo kept going backwards. Matt kept the press right onto the keeper and caused a panic at the back which led to a poor clearance straight to Jack W who reacted and slotted the ball into the open net to give Di Stefano belief that the game plan could work. 2-1
For a long period of time the game we soaked up the pressure waiting for our chance to pounce again but the Dynamo defence dealt with our attacks well. and with about 15 minutes to go they got their 3rd after a goal mouth scramble and a poor clearance allowed them to poke off a half shot and Toby was unbale to push the ball away. 3-1
The game at this stage started to slow down as the hard work was showing and with only minutes left on the clock the skilful right winger took a pot shot through a crowd of players and the unsighted Toby didn't have time to react. 4-1
FULL TIME 4-1 and Dynamo get their name in the hat for the next round and will take some team to beat them.
The game hopefully shown Di Stefano how far they have come over the past few years and it was one of the most disciplined performances I have seen them put in. On another day the plan could have paid off but now we focus on our league performances.
Many possible POTM today but Archie's first half display was an absolute pleasure to watch and looked right at home along side Uday.
