After what seemed to be like a never ending pre-season, Reedham finally made their long awaited league bow against last years Dvisional Champions and cup runners up, Mischief. No easy first up then! Before the match had even started there were already problems - the referee had called off so an emergency step in had to be found. Luckily Mischief agreed to the change so the fixture could be played with the understanding by both teams to try to keep it toned down on the pitch due to the limited qualifications of the replacement... it was a good idea in principle but the tackles, pushing and verbals became more prominent as the match progressed.
The pitch was in pristine condition, having been carefully mown repeatedly by Barry Payne in the run up to the game. The weather was warm and dry and an Easterly breeze gave a little restbite from the heat.
Mischief played with the wind in the first half and imposed their authority right from the off. The first moment of trouble came within a couple of minutes of the start. A ball was whipped in by the Mischief right winger and Chris Mahoney dived at the ball with a flying header to guide it back to Ben Roat in goal. For a moment it looked like it was going to sail by him for a spectacular mistake but Roat scrambled to cover across his line to prevent the goal.
Reedham worked their first corner of the game in the 5th minute. It came as a result of Craig Sharman knocking the ball into space on the left and after some good interchange by Jake Lazell, Jack Horwitz and Simon Burns a timely intervention by the Mischief centre back prevented further inroads being made.
Then the first setback of the game hit Reedham. Mischief worked the ball out to the right wing and the tricky player worked his way around Jake Lazell to the byline. His cut back found the Mischief striker in space but his mishit shot rolled behind the defence and provided an easy tap in for the advancing left winger on the other side of the goal. Reedham 0 - 1 Mischief
Two minutes later Reedham registered their first shot from a cleared free kick, Sharman's volley flying harmlessly wide. The tackles were starting to fly in midfield and from a Mischief freekick there was panic in the Reedham defence with the ball eventually being put behind for a corner. From the resulting corner Reedham managed to half clear their lines but a back peddling Mischief player still swung his boot at the bobbling ball and was unlucky to hit the side netting with a rasping shot.
On 17 minutes penalty appeals were waved away by the referee. Mischief's chief tormentor, their right winger, teased Jake Lazell and the covering midfielders before cutting inside where he got clattered by a Reedham player. It looked a penalty from the sidelines but play continued much to the Mischief bench's annoyance.
Reedham got away with some sloppy play with another Mischief corner in the 26th minute. With the defence asleep, Mischief took a short corner and worked a better crossing opportunity but fortunately the final ball was a poor one. Then another setback took hold via injury. Michael Mason, who had recently broken his wrist, started to feel some pain again so was taken off as a precaution. This meant a severe reshuffling of personnel with Barry Payne coming on up front, replacing Simon Burns who dropped into the midfield to cover for Michael's curtailed afternoon.
Reedham were being frustrated by the Mischief pressure, unable to get the ball down and play and having to resort to long balls as there were limited options available to the back line. Then on 35 minutes another goal came out of the blue for Mischief. They worked the ball though the middle and a shot from distance was taken which bounced right in front of Ben Roat. Unfortunately he failed to get his body behind the ball and it squirmed under him and into the net. Reedham 0 - 2 Mischief
The rest of the half came to a close without too much incident, apart from a high boot from Cameron Brett to a Mischief defender.
Halftime: Reedham 0 - 2 Mischief
Halftime changes were made to the team. Jordan Castle came on for Jack Horwitz and James Cater came on for Chrissy Earl. Reedham earned a free kick on 47 minutes but it was hit against the wall. The follow up was smashed by Craig Sharman but it deflected out for a corner. From the resulting corner Simon Burns got his head to the cross but could only guide the ball wide of the right upright.
A neat through ball got Reedham in behind but the danger was cleared by the fast retreating Mischief defender for a throw in. The long throw that came in cause problems in the Mischief defence and their goalkeeper rather flapped at the ball under pressure from Kieron Hunt. The ball was diverted goalwards but defenders were back on the line to clear.
On 53 minutes, Chris Sparrow came on for Chris Mahoney. An injury to Jordan Castle cut short his morning's work, with Josh Cox coming on up front and Barry Payne dropping back into the midfield.
Reedham used the wind to get a greater foothold into the game during the second half but Mischief still posed a dangerous threat on the break and from set pieces. From one of the Mischief corners, the Mischief attacker lost his marker James Cater but luckily the couldn't direct his effort on goal.
Then on 62 minutes came the killer blow. The ball was worked in behind the Reedham defence after a mistake from James Cater. Ben Roat flapped at the ball as it came across and under pressure from several Mischief attackers Chris Sparrow couldn't get enough distance on his clearance. It dropped to the Mischief midfielder 18 yards from goal and he lashed the ball home high into Ben Roat's goal. Reedham 0 - 3 Mischief
Despite greater dominance by the Reedham team, Mischief still carried a threat on the break and Ben Roat came to Reedham's rescue on a number of occasions during the remainder of the half. Twice he pulled off smart saves when faced with one to one situations and shots reigning in on his goal. He more than made up for his first half lapse of concentration.
A couple of late substitutions enabled Kieran Hunt and Michael Mason to get back on the pitch. Michael showed some nice touches creating space for himself to set up a couple of opportunities. He threaded Josh Cox in down the left channel and a decent pass across the box allowed Barry Payne a sighter on goal but he slashed the ball high and wide.
Finally the Mischief back line was broken on 87 minutes. Michael Mason ran at the heart of the Mischief defence and after a lucky break with a couple of ricochets he found himself one on one with the goalkeeper. He kept his cool and slid the ball under the advancing keeper to spark a loud roar from the home support. Reedham 1 - 3 Mischief
The game petered out towards the end with Mischief worthy winners. However, Reedham fought to the end and thoroughly deserved their goal and will look back at the game with mixed emotions. Defeat is never nice to taste but they managed to hold a free scoring team and favourites for the League to just 3 goals. Reedham's first competitive outing drew to a close safe in the knowledge that there one of the hardest tests of their credentials is out of the way for the season.
Dersingham await in the cup next week.
Starting XI: 1 Ben Roat, 2 Simon Burns, 3 Cameron Brett, 4 Jack Horwitz, 5 Craig Sharman, 6 Daniel Carter, 7 Kieron Hunt, 8 Michael Mason, 9 Chris Mahoney, 11 Jake Lazell, 16 Chrissy Earl
Substitutes: 10 Josh Cox, 12 Chris Sparrow, 14 Barry Payne, 15 James Cater, 17 Jordan Castle
Goal Scorers: Reedham - Michael Mason (87) Mischief - (7), (35), (62)
