Dudley Sports 2 v 10 TS UNITS FC
The UNITS travelled to Dudley Sports where again our early season injury curse had struck. Chinner was absent with a pulled hamstring as again was Brownie, Turner was out with a knee injury to join Darbs & Craig on the sidelines
On a positive note we welcomed back Barney from injury & new signing John Hawthorne
On a big wide pitch Cuzer picked an attacking side and asked the boys for a high tempo start as we lined up
Mike, Keith, Barney, Kie, Eggy, Baker, Ashton, Coco, Ginge, Pountney & Hunter
Bench was John, Ross, Radman, Taylor
The UNITS settled very well and like last week v Taverners we pretty much controlled the game from the off, amazingly how the game ended up after 40 minutes it was goal less, Pidge in the Dudley goal had pulled off 4 fine stops from Ginge, Pountney, Hunter and Coco as we attacked at will, Mike was a virtual spectator in the UNITS goal but we couldn't find the net
Baker went over on his ankle again and had to be replaced by Taylor on 40 mins and why this change was taking place Pountney finally made our pressure count when he raced away from the Dudley back four and clinically finished into the corner
Pountney then went on to complete a rapid hat trick adding two more in the space of 4 minutes
Firstly he rounded Pidge and slotted home before Ashton broke, ran 60 yards with the ball beating four or five players before passing to Pountney who slammed the ball home from 20 yards to give the scoreline a fair reflection of the first 45 minutes
HT 3-0
It was cruise control for the UNITS as Dudley had offered little yet we were guilty of thinking the game was won and started the 2nd half slow, before you knew it within 10 minutes it was 3-2 as firstly some sloppy play allowed their lad to nip in front of Mike and poke home a low cross then a ball in behind caught us square and Mike saved well initially but the rebound was forced home, 3-2
Naturally Dudleys tails were up but as they pushed for an equaliser it just enabled the UNITS to pick them off and for the remaining 30 minutes our football was scintillating as we attacked at will and scored some magical goals
John made his debut replacing Barney on the hour mark and looked assured and fitted in really well
Coco made it 4-2 after some slick play outside their box before Pountney made it 5-2 with another clinical finish
Paul Taylor who along with Ashton was bossing the midfield drove forward from midfield and rifled into the bottom corner from 20 yards to get our 6th
The best was saved for number 7 when from a deep cross into the box Coco scissor kicked a volley into the far corner from 12 yards giving the keeper no chance, already a leading contender for goal of the season
Hunter as always lead the line superbly and he got the 8th goal his play deserved when he showed quick feet in the box and fired across the keeper from 16 yards
Ginge had been going close all day and it was left to him to add the last two racing on to a fine Paul Taylor pass and finishing nicely before slotting home after a Chris Hunter shot had beat the keeper and rattled the inside of the post as the UNITS hit double figures
Radman made his competitive debut for Keith who picked up a slight niggle and the UNITS completed a fine victory and performance notching up 10 goals on our travels with some slick, quick, sharp incisive football
It really could have been more today, they conceded 10 but Pigeon made 8 or 9 fine stops from clear chances, the 10 minutes after half time apart it was a near faultless performance from all concerned
Man of the match was difficult with so many playing well, special mentions to Coco, Pountney & Paul Taylor but James Ashton was immense from start to finish and set the tone with his energy and class on the ball, four assists to boot he turned in his best display yet in a UNITS shirt
Next up we host table toppers Oceans Designs at Brown Westhead
