MEFF #10: THE PD FILES 3 – 6 EDDARD’S REVENGE:
Match Report by Tom Spencer
A relatively tight game came alive in the second half as seven goals were scored and tempers threatened to boil over as Eddard’s Revenge (captained by Patto) claimed victory through some calm finishing and strong defensive work.
A tight first half was dominated in the early proceedings by The PD Files team led by Andrew Griffin who were able to pass the ball well but were unable to find any breaks in the defence of Eddard’s Revenge, marshalled well by Staszkiewicz. This reflected the game as a whole as The PD Files struggled to find clear openings throughout the game.
Eddard’s Revenge took the lead in the 13th minute as Blenkinsopp finished from close range after good work down the left by Parrott. The lead was doubled 11 minutes later as Fletcher won the ball on the half way line from a PD Files throw and muscled his way through and finished in to the goal one–on-one past reserve goalkeeper Burton to make it 2-0 at half time.
At half time PD Files were able to replace Burton with Paul Steels but this substitution was unable to change their fortune as they went 3 goals down 8 minutes into the second half when Fletcher scored his second when he got the ball on the edge of the box, took one touch and fired the ball into the bottom left corner. However PD Files demonstrated the resilience that won last week’s game and pulled a goal back 3 minutes later as Pete used his strength to muscle down the right and smash the ball past the goalkeeper’s left hand into the top right corner. It was a strike of considerable venom and raised hopes of a PD Files comeback. Unfortunately for them 6 minutes later Crozier combined with Blenkinsopp in the PD Files area and slid the ball in from a yard following a nifty one-two. It got worse in the 22nd minute of the second half as after a nasty collision in the box, Steels, who was rattled in the collision, gave the ball straight to Parrott who netted into the top of the net to make it 5-1.
Again PD Files came back with Bradley smashing a half volley into the top right of the net after a quickly taken throw and then two minutes later a wriggling Scothern in the box turned a cross across the area and Patterson could do nothing except direct the ball into his own net under pressure from Adam to make it 5-3. It looked as though the momentum was with PD Files as there was still 10 minutes to go, but they could not find another breakthrough as poor passing, wayward shooting and frustration started to come into their play. In fact it was Eddard’s Revenge who scored the last goal as Patterson redeemed his own goal with a first time finish from the right of the box following a pass from Crozier.
Things threatened to boil over at the end after Allaway was lucky not to be penalised after going through late on Spencer, but overall the result reflected the number of chances created and The PD Files’ run is over after one week. Eddard’s Revenge will be looking to maintain their momentum in two weeks time against Neil Taylor’s team, Sheikh Mansour’s Plaything.
Men of the Match were Blenkinsopp for Eddard’s Revenge – “He worked hard in midfield and did a lot of running upfront giving our defence a lot of problems” and Bradley for The PD Files – “Good ball retention in attack and an excellent goal.”
