Despite the weather enforced break we were quickly into our stride. In the 2nd minute an intelligent throw from Bowles was laid off by Jack but Dazza ballooned the chance. Minutes later a flowing move down the left saw Ryan unleash a wicked drive at the end of a powerful run but the 'keeper made a good save. We continued to press and in the 6th Neil made a strong interception, an exchange of passes with Jack saw Jack play a neat ball to Olli who's lofted pass found Sam closing at the edge of the six yard box and Sam finished well for 1-0.
They responded well and in the 10th Chippy was lucky to escape with a yellow for a two footed lunge which left metal micky squawking for the rest of the game. We were far too slack in the middle and the Bowles/Dazza combination just didn't work with both being caught too often the wrong side of the ball and when a cheap free kick was conceded Bowles never delivered on strong call for the ball and they converted the free header giving Revill no chance.
They had us on the back foot for 20 minutes and really it was the defensive qualities of Ryan, Chippy, Kyle and Joel and the great positioning of Revill which kept us in the game. Around the 25 minute mark Sam was brought into the middle and Bowles pushed wide left. This prompted Olli to also drift centre left and gave us a more compact look. Within 5 minutes Neil won a crunching tackle, Jack slipped the loose ball to Sam in a central area, Sam clipped the ball to Olli in the same position where Sam had scored from. It looked like Olli had too much to do but he was cool in possession and converted well. We bossed the last 15 minutes of the first period and looked more balanced.
At the turnaround Kim, on the bench due to late arrival, came on for Bowles, Jack was pulled wide left and Sam and Olli were pushed up top to take advantage of the game becoming stretched. Kim was a bit slow in the early stages and Sam and Olli were too detatched from the rest of the team. We did settle and Kim proceeded to turn in a vintage display which helped thread the team together. In the 60th minute Pearcey came on for Neil (well done in his first game for 2 months) and his disciplined early covering play gave Kyle the platform to stretch his legs running from midway in our half, power through three tackles, slip the last man and drive home from a tight angle - quality. Billy came on for Joel in the 70th so Kyle slipped into the holding role.
In the 80th minute Cippy took a free kick from just inside our half, the ball sailed over their defence and Kim brought it down over his shoulder before lashing home for 4-1, great goal.
This was a very decent team performance without ever hitting the heights. A couple of players slightly off their usual best were well supported by the rest of the team - thats what we need to reel the trophies in. Today we earned the right to play and we fully deserved the result. Ryan, Chippy, Kyle and Joel were immense again today but Revill just nicks MOM.
