Stronstad put in a 4 star performance against Star FC at Paulsgrove this morning.
Stronstad were dealt with some early blows as Ian Privett and Jeff Needham missed the game and with Nick Crocker no longer with the team Stronstad had to make some changes to the team. Adi Card went in goal for Ian Privett and Laurence Redman came in for Nick Crcoker.
Stronstad started well and showed no effect of lack of match practice after not playing last week and we soon in the mood to get back to action. The first shot for Stronstad came from Robert Pearson but his long-range effort screwed wide of the Star FC goal. At the other end Adi Card was alert to a long-range effort from a Star FC player. Stronstad were looking dangerous going forward and with Mark Betteridge and Gary Cowell working well down the right wing they were causing some real danger for the Star FC defence.
Stronstad opened the goal scoring after 5 minutes as a wonderfully flighted ball from Dan Moore found Gareth Spicer who’s cushioned header found Robert Pearson who smashed the ball home from close range to give Stronstad the lead and Pearson’s 3rd goal of the season.
This should have been the stepping-stone for Stronstad to move up a gear but they became sloppy and the ball was being given away too cheaply and some players were doing the fancy flicks like we were 5-0 up. This was a cause of concern as only the off side flag denied Star FC from getting an equalizer as the Star FC player slotted past Adi Card only to be ruled out.
At the other end the Star FC keeper was not really tested with him only having to save a Dan Moore header from just inside the box. All the other efforts were wayward.
At the other end against the run of play Stronstad were hit with a sucker punch as Star FC grabbed an unlikely goal. A quick throw in caught the Stronstad defence cold and this gave the Star FC number 8 the chance to slot past Adi Card to draw the teams level. There were some debate about the goal and who was marking whom and was the player offside but at the end of the day it was 1-1.
With 10 minutes to go Stronstad were struggling to get in the game and it was Star FC who was the stronger of the two teams.
Half Time – Star FC 1 Stronstad Utd 1
After some strong words Stronstad went back onto the pitch looking to regain the lead and move away from Star FC but with a change in formation to a 4-4-2 it was still Star FC who were on top and even though Stronstad had a series of corners it did not lead to anything.
As Stronstad started to get the ball back and play the ball around like they did in the early part of the match they started to get back on top of the match and after 65 minutes they were given a penalty. The penalty came about after a goal kick from the Star FC which only found the head of Gareth Spicer and his header back towards goal bounced in front of the keeper and as the keeper came out he misjudged the bounce and the ball fell to Robert Pearson. Pearson with his back to goal was then rugby tackled by the keeper and the referee gave a penalty. Pearson stepped up and slotted the resulting penalty home to give Stronstad a 2-1 lead.
This then lifted Stronstad and they stepped up another gear and they were creating more chances and more players were getting involved as Stronstad looked for goals and only some poor finishing from Mark Betteridge, Jorge Morrison-Cooke and Dan Moore kept the score at 2-1 but they did not have to wait long as Stronstad got a 3rd goal through substitute Jon Way. Stronstad were moving forward and a through ball from Gareth Spicer found Robert Pearson who drove into the penalty area and his cut back found Jon Way who fired into the roof of the net to score his 2nd of the season and Stronstad’s 3rd of the day.
Confidences was buzzing through Stronstad and everyone wanted to get involved in attacking but they were caught short at the back and only some great defending kept Stronstad’s goal in safe.
Stronstad almost gifts Star FC a bizarre consolation goal as a goal mouth scramble saw the ball fall to Andy Scanlon and his wayward clearance was fired at Adi Card who was lucky to turn the ball around the post for a corner.
At the other end Stronstad got a 4th goal through an unlikely source. Stronstad were attacking down the Star FC right and as Mark Betteridge played a through ball to Rich Gillam. Rich Gillam controlled the ball before firing a powerful effort from just inside the penalty area past the Star FC goalkeeper at his near post to make the score 4-1.This capped off a good performance for Stronstad as they took another 3 points and moved onto 13 for the season.
Full Time – Star FC 1 Stronstad Utd 4
