A well anticipated game, following our 22 man squad on Thursday we turned up with 12! luckily if needed Anthony Hawkins had came prepared with his mankie foot, a trick to put of the oppersition off im sure. With The captain swanning off on holiday and our coach not far behind we were left with a skeleton crew. Colin happily took the captaincy and the team showed the team spirit which has guildied our game so well during pre season, straight from the whistle. Again we were playing football and looking for the ball, Sonning came into to the game with a strong team looking to give us a thumping.......... we had other ideas and within 5 minutes Sonning knew it! Sonning did draw first blood with a great goal that any team would of struggled to contain. Our heads did not go down we keep plugging away with shots on goal, some going a little astray due to the lightness of the ball, a frustrated Luke was letting his anger out until a shot by himself flew a few miles over the bar also, but we were creating chances. It eventually paid off Nobby latching on to a through ball from Luke James and a thunderous shot hit the back of the net .......1-1. The rest of the first half was end to end with the midfield backwards and forwards and stella performances from the defence Nicky, Rob, steele and especially Mark Anderton helped keep the score at 3-1 at the half time whistle. Even though we were losing you would not have guessed it due to the end to end action and the equal amount of possesion. We came on at half time with Rob limping and Steele not happy, but we dug deep and it did not take long for Luke james to bang in a tidy finish to make it 3-2. Then both Rob and Steele left the pitch and things were changed round with Dave small coming on and Pauls mate, Colin went back in defence and Pete into the middle. For the rest of the game it was hard work with the sun coming down and the midfielders started to struggle. What happened next was unexpected and lucky for us Luke has a hollow head lol. There defender belted the ball against Luke James face at 25 yards out and with Luke flat out and dazed on the floor the ball looped over the keeper and in to the net, Luke still oblivious to his so called goal of the season soon found his feet and went on a drunken celebration still dazed from the impact. Score now 3-3! We started piling the pressure on and Sonning was clearly shaken. Nobby had a sitter that he missed and good chances from corners and a clear penalty appeal when Colin got bought down but the ref missed it, we had them on the ropes and any chances that they tried to break with, the defence were all over it with Mark at the heart of it solid as a rock. We were after the win and with 5 minutes to go it seemed like it would not happen then the worse happened we got caught on the break and they got there winner! score 4-3. We were gutted everyone had put in a lot of effort with Paul and his shot stopping and Pete and Sam on the wings working tireless everyone knew we did not deserve it, but we came off knowing we can do well this year and grew in confidence, worries with our defence though as Iain all ready out now has Rob (ankle) Mark (hamstring) Colin (calf) and Stelle (heel) all nursing injuries before the start of the season, fingers crossed. Well up to the pub it was for beers and bbq and a good Sunday game on the t.v, i think that finished Man u 8 Arsenal 2 but cant remember ;-)
Goal summary:
20 min - James Hill (7/10)
Luke James supplied the through-ball, and James Hill found the net from outside the area with a speculative right footed effort.
60 min - Luke James (7/10)
A well delivered through-ball from James Hill was converted by Luke James. A great finish with the right foot from long range.
80 min - Luke James (10/10)
A mind-blowing headed finish from outside the area by Luke James, following an opposition error.
