The UNITS made their bow in this seasons Subsidiary Cup as they traveled to Div 3 outfit Wollaston Lions Cuzer had 14 at his disposal and shuffled the shape to try and give us better options in the final 3rd as we lined up Mozza, Tonka, Taylor, Leon, Coco, Jim, Ryan, Baker, Winny, Lewis & Trigger Subs were Chinner, Clarkey & Rob
South Road pitch is never the best and it was a windy morning and getting the ball down and playing was not easy yet we started in the ascendency our opponents happy to sit deep and look for their pacey strikers at every opportunity We had gilt edge opportunity to open the scoring on 10 minutes from a catalogue of errors from the home side, firstly the keeper shanked a goal kick sidewards which the centre half tried to retrieve and he could only slice the ball in the air, Lewis nipped in and crossed for Trigger who missed the ball 6 yards out when he should have made contact
The UNITS were playing on the front foot but shortly after we had a let off when a long clearance evaded our back three, their striker running free Mozza came out to meet him outside the box and the ball ran to the striker and he managed to poke wide of the empty net from 18 yards, his only saving grace being he was off balance
Winny then had a shot blocked and Lewis forced a save from the keeper as we kept knocking the door but found the home side hard to break down 20 in and from being on top we found ourselves behind, Tonka headed back to Mozza but the Wollaston striker nipped in, Mozza got a hand on it but trying to retrieve the loose ball was adjudged to have brought down the home striker, the penalty being clinically dispatched as we trailed 1-0
Jim was next to threaten when from a raking cross field pass he held off the defender and struck a fine shot from 18 yards just straight at the keeper who saved at the second attempt Then Coco beat his man and whipped in a lovely cross and Lewis rose highest to head goalwards but the home keeper made a good save low down Taylor's long throw was causing issues all half and on 40 minutes one throw was competed for before coming off the bar with no UNIT on hand to finish as we laid siege to the home goal without finding the breakthrough
Despite being on the back foot Wollaston still carried a threat and on half time again their striker found a yard on our defence but this time could only slice horribly wide under pressure
Half Time Wollaston Lions 1 v 0 TS UNITS FC
The message from Cuzer & Mala was to turn the lions share of possession into goals, remain patient and hopefully be more clinical in the final 3rd
We started the 2nd half in the ascendency, Winny had a volley from 10 yards superbly blocked by the defender and Lewis shot just wide as we looked for the equaliser. Tonka then went close from a throw with the ball being clawed off the line but on 55 minutes the home sides luck ran out as we got level Trigger held the ball up well before the impressive Ryan switched the play to Lewis who beat his man and pulled the ball back for Winny to run on to and slam home from 8 yards out to make it 1-1
After the goal Wollaston had a little spell of their own but created nothing of note as Mozza remained untested
65 minutes and we got our noses on front, Taylor threw the ball in, Tonka flicked on and Lewis ghosted around the back to slam home from close range as we had turned things around
Shortly after the goal Cuzer made a couple of changes and shuffled shape as Clarkey & Chinner replaced Leon & Trigger
We were now comfortably on top, Taylor playing well dictating things from the back and chances kept coming but give Wollaston credit they defended superbly putting bodies on the line
75 gone and Rob replaced Winny who did well on his first start for a while and got a goal his efforts deserved
The UNITS 3rd goal was a superb team goal, Rob held the ball up well 30 yards from goal before switching the play to Jim who with the outside of this boot played in Lewis who 18 yards out hit a first time volley across the keeper into the bottom corner, a superb finish from a superb team move to wrap up a, in the end, comfortable victory where we had to show character to come from behind against a resolute side
Man of the match was a toss up between Tayl's and Ryan Smith but Ryan just edges it for an all action display in the middle of the park
