First Half:
The home side had no indication of the standard of the opposition, which meant they had to play as they have in the last two weeks to stand any chance of putting the first impression in. New Russellers started very strong, playing the ball comfortably around the Crayford Athletic side, which gave them the confidence to move forward. Fast forward to the 10 minute mark, and a ball played into the feet of Oliver Brown was flicked by the outside of his boot to a surging Serkan Ozdemir, who picked the ball up, produced a stunning feint to fool the defender and open up the space, where he unleashed a left footed strike from distance, putting it past the keeper who couldn't reach the ball due to the sheer accuracy put on it. A good early start.
It could have been so many more but it seems the forward line hadn't even turned up, with shots being spurned left, right and centre from the lone striker. Crayford did not possess any threat in the first half, and just before the half time mark, a quick throw in from Serkan Ozdemir resulted in a quick exchange from Oliver Brown and Benjamin Lovell, putting the former through on goal, only to see the goalkeeper parry the cross into his own net, a blunder that Peter Enckleman would've been proud of! Disputes from Oliver Brown to claim the goal as his own, but he soon admitted it was a cross and not going in at all, so the official goalscorer goes down to the opposition, a fine own goal.
Second Half:
Sitting comfortable on a 2-0 lead, Russellers seemed to spend the second half in second gear, and Crayford began some pursuits. But the referee was quick to break the game up with some audacious calls, including a 50:50 on the edge of the box which led to a freekick which narrowly missed the bottom corner from Serkan Ozdemir. Despite the away side pressing, the defence had arguably their most solid defensive performance so far, dealing with anything and everything, it was that kind of day where Grant Tugwell could've had an early bath back home. The only action he encountered was from a foolish attempt to swipe the ball from his hands by the away striker who caught him high. Overall the second half produced a stalemate, with chances for the home team being spurned.
Good victory for New Russellers, a clean sheet for the second week running, a third successive win, and it seems the team are finally finding their shape and working as a unit. Onto next week where we take on Nuevo Club, who sit top of the table currently, and a win would send a message out to the rest of the league that we are capable of beating anyone!
