The UNITS traveled to Areley Kings to take on the in form Division 2 side in the 2nd round of the hospital cup
Again, numbers were a little stretched but we welcomed back from injury Two-Ton Dalton as we lined up
Mala, Keith, Danny, Eggy, Kie, Baker, Hunter, Coco, Acer, Ginge & Pountney. Subs were Ross, Turner, Rad & Cuzer
After the recent weather the pitch was cut up quite bad and the surface uneven and neither side could get going in the opening 10 minutes but you felt the home side had settled better yet chances were at a premium
On 20 minutes with neither side really threatening until then AK got a dubious free kick 35 yards out and as it was floated into the box the UNITS lack of organisation was highlighted as Acer was left with their big centre half who won the header and bulleted a header across Mala into the bottom corner 1-0
The UNITS then edged into the game more, Ginge who was working hard up top showed great skill down the right to beat his man and pull back for Acer who fired a cross shot across goal with Pountney inches away from sliding home
With the UNITS now asking more questions we gifted AK a soft 2nd goal when a hopeful deep cross found it's way to the back stick Danny half cleared but the ball landed fortunately to their striker who drilled a low shot into the bottom corner from 12 yards and we found ourselves 2-0 down
The UNITS had a lifeline just before half time when after some nice build up play Ginge got away from his man on the edge of the box and their keeper made a smart one on one save as Ginge tried to slide it past him yet we found ourselves 2-0 down at the break
HT Areley 2 v 0 TS UNITS
Probably expecting the hairdryer treatment the lads many have been surprised by the calm team talk given by Cuzer. Chances were there for us and we changed our shape to a 4-2-3-1 at HT moving players around, only playing change was Cuzer himself coming on at CH to rest Kie's knees with bigger games ahead
The change in shape worked wonders as by 55 minutes we were level, first after some slick passing outside their box the ball was fed to Hunter who held the ball up superbly before back heeling to the on rushing Baker who finished smartly left footed across the keeper and then from a wide free kick Pountney curled the ball over the keeper into the top corner to make it 2-2
Areley were shell shocked as the game had completely turned, it was now all UNITS as they couldn't live with the movement of the front 4. On 60 minutes we went in front when Hunter again beat his man down the right before hanging up a lovely cross to the back stick for Coco to acrobatically volley into the top corner from 10 yards
Ross replaced Acer on 65 minutes and his first contribution was to seal the game for the UNITS when Hunter held the ball up well on the half way line before playing a lovely ball around the corner for Ross to race onto, accelerate away from the Areley back four before finishing clinically into the bottom corner from 18 yards, fine goal
Ginge, Hunter and Pountney all went close to extending our lead further whilst at the other end Mala made one smart save from a close range header but in the end the UNITS ran out 4-2 winners after a fine comeback and made it into the 3rd round
Everybody can be proud of their 2nd half performance after a lack luster first half found us 2-0 down. MOM was a close one, Hunter was unplayable in the 2nd half when moved up top, his hold up play and movement made so much space for the 3 playing off him and Areley had no answer yet Baker just edges it after a poor game by his standards last time out he led by example in the 2nd half and controlled the game for us
Next up is a home league game against Dudley Sports
Cuzer
