REAL Dundonald went away to the undefeated league leaders Croygas Phoenix this morning in Wallington, Surrey......the game started very tightly with neither team giving much away, both teams cancelling each other out so to speak, midfielders YOUNG and JAMES were gradually kept busy in the middle of the park as CROYGAS played good, decent passing football at times.....just before midway in the first-half CROYGAS won a corner and although defended well initially by REAL the ball fell to their number 10 who was left unmarked on the edge of REAL'S box, the kid hit a fantastic left foot volley which flew in the top corner 1-0....as so often happens with REAL Dundonald, this seemed to up their mindset and game....GYLES, AL-MAJALI and HARVEY (free-kick) all going close as the first-half was played out..... The second half saw REAL come out like a wounded, angry Lion, what a remarkable 15-20 minutes which followed!!!!!! (HAYES on for GUADAGNO).......almost immediately HAYES dinked the ball cleverly inside to JAMES who played a peach of a ball over the top to the already moving AL-MAJALI the ball seemed to drop inch perfect for REAL'S number 9 who decided to take a few touches whilst shifting to the left, then hit a low left-footed shot which went back across the CROYGAS GK and into the far corner of goal..1-1...the next goal came 5 minutes or so later via route one, which is unlike REAL but they all count...a big kick from REAL'S GK Big Ben RADFORD which evaded CROYGAS'S defenders, GYLES instant reaction was to hustle his way through and hit a powerful volley which their GK had no chance of stopping, the net bulged!!! ...1-2, the large REAL crowd were delighted.....REAL were in full command now, Right Back HOPKINS marauding forward at will with the ball at his feet confidently, now CROYGAS started to get dirty and panicky, not used to being out-played, not used to losing, they started to break up REAL'S dominance with mindless fouls....not even 10 minutes later the trickery of HARVEY won REAL a free kick right on the edge of CROYGAS box....Skipper YOUNG hit a beautiful left-footed curling set-piece shot which hit the bar and upright, bounced back out and AL-MAJALI was sharpest to tap in the rebound...1-3, this delighted the crowd again!!!!!.....REAL continued to dictate play and showed fight, will and organisation in abundance...the final goal came after a wonderful team passing move, which saw YOUNG provide GYLES with a defence splitting pass...GYLES comfortably slotting home to take his tally to 15 goals in 9 games.....although CROYGAS heads had dropped, they didnt give up, now pouring men forward looking for another goal or two...RADFORD denied them on a few occasions with quality saves...YOUNG also denied them by clearing off the line late on... with 15 minutes left AL-MAJALI nearly completed a hat-trick, forcing their GK to pull out a decent one handed point-blank save, after fine work involving C. ALDERSON and GYLES.....The Centre Back pairing of BLAKEBROUGH and WILLIAMS also caught the eye again with a tidy display of calmness and experienced defending. A big result was well enjoyed by all and its a beautiful way to end the year beating your rivals at their HOME in THAT fashion!!!!!!!!!
WELL DONE ALL ASSOCIATED WITH REAL DUNDONALD F.C....
Merry Christmas
Uncle Bob
