In the home fixture against Brinkworth, earlier in the season, Purton lost 3-4. but had only had 10 players for the majority of the match. So here was an opportunity to put things straight. However, with 4 players, Fraser; Toby; and both Declans missing with injuries etc, perhaps it wasn't going to be as straight forward as expected. At least the coaches would have 12 players at their disposal.
Conditions were not great, very grey and strong winds, but for once this went in Purton’s favour as Brinkworth struggled to clear their halfway line.
Midfield were always looking to play the ball wide, stretching the Brinkworth defence. Louis was certainly causing them problems down the left wing, and after 10 minutes the pressure paid off and Purton got a penalty after James D got taken down in the penalty area. Matty calmly put the ball away, 1 nil.
This seemed to spark Brinkworth into life, and applied some pressure themselves, and from a throw in, the ball managed to make it's way across the Purton penalty box with no one touching it, only for a Brinkworth player to take a shot. 1-1.
Fortunately after 2 minutes Matty. Got his second goal and restored Purton’s lead. 2-1.
It looked as if Purton had been working on corners, as they were beginning to cause the opposition problems. With 35 mins into half, Ryan bundled the ball into the net, 3-1, then 5 mins later James W, made it 4-1 from another corner. That's how the first half ended.
Second half, was a completely different kettle of fish. Brinkworth came out flying, within minutes Brinkworth had made it 4-2. A mix up in the Purton defence and Andy put the ball into his own net. This rocked the Purton boys and now they struggled to get the ball out of their half, but Brinkworth not really menacing the Purton goal.
As the match went on, Purton slowly got their act together and were getting Brinkworth on the break, Charlie having several chances to extend the lead. However, there was always a chance of Brinkworth stealing another goal, and making it squeaking bum time, but with about 2 minutes to go, on another counter attack, Charlie and Ryan linked up and Ryan got his second goal of the match. Final score 5-2.
A Jeckyl and Hide performance for sure, but 3 points is 3 points.
Still top of the league, and with Supermarines' match against Shrivenham being postponed, Purton’s lead in table is now 4 points, although Supermarine now have 3 games in hand.
