Considering we hadn’t played for 4 weeks and that we had up to 7 players unavailable for various reasons for this game I thought we put in a decent performance and the game served its purpose which was to get some match practice in ahead of our big game away at Hetton Lyons next week.
The one big blemish on the day was the injury Marc Bladen picked up when he conceded a penalty for his rash tackle in the 2nd half which led to Washington’s first equalizer.
The game was played in good spirit and although we were kicking against a strong wind in the first half we still managed to put some good moves together. Our defence stood firm when we conceded a number of free kicks and corners and we created some chances when we had the ball in the opposition half.
On 30 minutes we had the ball in the net when Graeme Embleton’s free kick was headed in by Robert Draper but he was called offside by the referee. Our lads were doing well to keep they composure during the course of the game as the referee seemed intent on giving us absolutely nothing until the 40th minute when Stuart Fenton and Daniel Johnson exchanged passes on the edge of the box and Fenton carried the ball into the box before being fouled and thankfully the referee gave us the penalty. James Thornton calmly stroked the penalty into the bottom right hand corner to give us a deserved lead.
Stuart Fenton had an excellent game on his return to the side and he attacked intelligently while also defending solidly when called upon. Marc Hall in his first appearance of the season coming on for Potts at half time was forced into a point blank range save on 58 minutes when his face kept the ball out of the net following a close range shot. The game got a little scrappy in the beginning of the 2nd half and then on 70 minutes Washington got in behind us and Marc Bladen committed a foul on the Washington player for a clear penalty. That unfortunately was the end of the game for him and caused a 4 minute delay while he was helped from the pitch. The Washington player stuck the penalty away well shooting down the middle of the goal as Hall had already committed his dive to his right.
With players on both sides tiring the game started to open up and Ryan Grayson and Greg Coates time and again found space to run at the JFC back line but often made a poor decision when in and around the final third.
Then on 81 minutes Graeme Embleton had the ball on the left hand side near the corner flag and he passed the ball into the feet of Ryan Grayson who shifted the ball on to his right foot before hammering a shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net from 20 yards out.
We looked comfortable but conceded a goal on 85 minutes when Graeme Embleton cleared a ball up field down the centre of the pitch to the Washington number 8 who then controlled the ball and then let fly from 30 yards out with an unstoppable right footed shot which flew into the top right hand corner of the net. This was a really good goal.
Then shortly afterwards JFC hit the post from a tight angle with a shot. Both teams were committing men forward in search of the winner and the last good chance of the game fell to Ryan Grayson who pulled away down the right hand side near the half way line and he carried the ball on the angle all the way into the box but he fired his shot straight at the keeper who made a good save.
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Overall a good workout for the lads and all players got plenty of game time with some playing in a number of different positions.
