Olympique LMB produced a determined and gritty performance to claim a deserved win over AFC Geordie. After swaggering onto the pitch expecting a high-scoring thrash, Geordie were instantly surprised when LMB began to defend and close the ball with a renewed hunger, and it wasn’t long before Kieran exploited a huge gap in their defence, running onto a Patto through-ball and finishing beyond their keeper. Geordie got a goal back, before another well-worked move saw Patto square the ball to Fletch, who opened his account for the season with a clinical finish. Geordie momentarily took the lead when they scored from a quick counter-attack and volleyed free kick, but LMB hit back just before half-time when Rowan fizzed a screamer into the top right corner from distance (although this wasn’t his only attempt from distance in the half!)
The second half saw Geordie ‘up’ their game, and although they took the lead twice, Crozier (edge of the box) and Fletch (long range drive) both added goals to make it 5-5. With ten minutes to go, Man of the Match Paul began to produce some outstanding saves to keep LMB in the game and ensure a close finish, while the whole team, including debutant Dave Spencer, continued to fight for the ball, clear their lines and play some composed passing to feet. Sweetman offered one memorable moment when he received a rebound and found himself to be the only player in the opposition half, but was unfortunate to see his composed finish actually shank itself millimetres wide! However, as the fouls began to rain in from the frustrated opposition (Kieran turning his ankle and Patto re-aggravating his knee after a late swipe), Rowan managed to wriggle away from his marker/wrestling-partner and fire in two unstoppable shots from the right to give LMB some breathing space (and receive a bloodied lip in the process). Geordie hit back from distance once again, but Fletch produced a great run and long-range finish from the left to make the score 8-6 with 4 minutes remaining. Despite the efforts of the über-physical Geordie team, who got one goal back, they just couldn’t find the equalising goal, thanks mainly to the fingertips and knees of Paul and determined defending from the whole team (Fletch in particular getting caught extremely late with a two-footed challenge after shepherding the ball back to Paul), but in the end the “p00fs” of LMB, who “should go back to playing netball”, saw out the game to claim an exceptionally pleasing win!
Paul got Man of the Match (his tipped save in the last minute won us the game) but Griffin and I agreed that every player deserved the award after some outstanding defending and a surprisingly good shot conversion rate!
