The pre-match discussion focused completely on the enjoyment of victory and the determination to keep our purple patch going. Despite a heavy pitch, a blindingly low sun and a late goalkeeper transfer of Matt Court, Plumtree adopted their usual 4-4-2 formation and began brightly.
Rumours of wayward practice shooting pre-game and the wearing of blue gloves where ignored as Austin Carruthers collected the ball on the left from a Peter Oates pass and moved in field. Only 90 seconds had elapsed when Austin continued his run and then unleashed an exocet from fully 35 yards which found the roof of the net with the keeper no chance. A shot straight from the “Ian St John shooting with the instep training manual” meant Plumtree had drawn first blood.
Despite the early goal, Trent Vale midfield began to find a few gaps and largely thanks to the efforts of Captain Chris Kay and Leigh Godfrey the defence was impenetrable and Matt Court between the sticks remained protected. When Paul Thomas and Simon Atherton began to stamp their authority on the midfield midway through the first half pressure began to mount and eventually paid off.
A quickly taken corner by Thomas was played to Oates. Seeing the opportunity for the return pass Oates played in Thomas who dropped the shoulder, found an angle and coolly slotted home for his 6th goal of the season. Plumtree were on top and could only see a comfortable victory as they led 2-0 at the break.
The turnaround meant, with the wind against, a change in the pattern of play. Mark Hawkins led the half-time teamtalk and re-iterated the need to play our high intensity football but it was Trent Vale who created the chances and duly scored on the hour mark.
A corner floated in from the right, was lost in the sun by Court and Kay had the unfortunate role of seeing the ball bounce over the line off his knee. Arguably, what Vale deserved and Plumtree knew they had a fight on to gain a third successive victory.
The final 20 minutes saw a tight encounter with great opportunities for both sides. Court made a finger tip save on to the bar to see the ball crash down onto the line and bounce back into open play. 2 mins later he was called into action again when a Vale centre forward sprang the offside trapped only for Court to be equal to it and get down for a smart one-handed save and tip around the corner. This keeper whose CV boasts one cap for the boy scouts at the age of 10 years old and pretty much nothing else kept Plumtree ahead at 2-1 and that’s how it finished. Matt Court was a thoroughly deserved Man of the Match.
