Ventolin Inhalers continued their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 4-1 victory against championship rivals Brighton Arthritic. Man of the match Joe Plass continued his fine form with a superbly taken goal and two assists. He was ably assisted by goals from Loz, Ransom and Dain who also contributed two assists for the opening goals. The arthritic did pull a goal back late in the game, although this couldn't take the shine off what was an excellent team performance, sending a clear message to their title rivals that they once again mean business. Can the Ventolin fans begin to dream again...?
Pre match Ventolin made a late signing - snapping up in form CSK striker Aaron Walsh to add some cover on the bench. The game started at quite a pace with Ventolin taking control of possession with some good passing football, launching several early raids into the opposition penalty area. Only some last gasp defending and a couple of fine saves from the Arthritic keeper prevented first Ransom and then Loz from opening the scoring. The fans though didn't have to wait long for the opening goal.
It came after a period of sustained pressure, with Dain picking up the ball wide and squaring the ball for Loz, who sidestepped the defender, before striking the ball firmly past the keepers despairing dive.
Ventolin were now well on top, finding opportunities aplenty with balls behind the static Arthritic defence, it wasnt long before one of these balls, this time from Dain, found Plass, who beat the defender and unleashed a powerful strike into the far corner of the goal.
A third goal was not long in coming, this time Plass was the provider, completing a flowing team move for Ransom to curl one of his trade mark shots into the bottom corner. Arthritic were now in complete disarray, Barton in the Inhalers goal barely had a save to make, which perhaps explained his enthusiasm for making Bruce Grobaalar type forays downfield. It was from one of these that Arthritic came closest to scoring, only for the Arthritic striker to make a complete hash of his shot , blasting over from about 3 yards. That being said a goal keeper who can come out on pitch is worth his weight in gold! Who can forget Bartons wonder strike after running from his goal, down the wing, before firing in from 20 yards in another epic encounter - certainly not the fans lucky enough to witness one of pitch invasions all time greatest goals!
The whistle for the end of the half was a relief for Arthritic who looked down and out after 3 knock out blows from the in form Inhalers.
The second half continued in much the same vein, although Ventolin were far less clinical, seeing chance after chance missed or saved.. strikers Walsh and Loz could have each scored a brace, although credit must be given to the Arthritic who never gave up and defended resolutely. Ventolin finally added to their first half goals when Plass and Dain broke clear, and with only the keeper to beat Plass unselfishly slipped the ball to Dain who tapped the ball into the empty net.
There was still time for ventolin to miss more chances, although in mitigation the quality of their all round football was excellent. It was therefore a surprise when Arthritic scored.. after one or two missed tackles and bobbles the arthritic striker managed to slot the ball past keeper Barton and Dain on the goal line.
This only spurred on the inhalers, who once more pressed forward, with ransom and Loz linking well and Plass and Dain pushing further forward in search of a fifth goal. The closest the inhalers came to this was a shot from Loz that crashed off the bar.
It would not be unreasonable to say that it could have been 8 or 9 if the finishing in the second half was a as good as in the first. The real positive though was the number of chances created and to score 4 goals in any game is good.
The referee finally called time on the match, putting the Arthritic out of their misery and allowing the inhalers to savour that winning feeling.
Ventolin Manager Tony Dain was pleased with his teams display. Speaking to the Sky Sports interviewer at pitch side, he said " That was a really good all round team performance. We scored 4 good goals and looked in charge throughout. Yes we missed a hatful in the second half but I thought we passed the ball really well and continued to attack until the final whistle even when we were 4-0 up."
Man of the Match Joe Plass was pleased to win again, moving the Inhalers into second behind Muggy Mugs. " This should keep us right up there and I see no reason why we cant press on from here and mount a serious title challenge".
Indeed Ventolin will be looking for maximum points when they take on bottom of the table side AC Homemade Houmous in the evenings late kick off, live on sky sports at 8.40pm.
