Ventolin Inhalers continued their unbeaten run and with it guaranteed promotion to the premiership with a hard fought 3-2 victory against the Chalk Pit Marauders in Monday nights televised game.
In a match of numerous chances, that could have gone either way, it was Ventolin Talisman Tony Dain whose man of the match performance included two superbly taken goals that eventually delivered the points.
Andy Barton was again in top form in goal, making several match winning saves, including one final stop as the referee called time.
AS the game began it soon became evident that the Marauders were up for it, and Ventolin would have to be on their game if they were going to win this one. Unfortunately they started slowly allowing the Marauders to press forward, causing problems for the defence, who were having to make a series of blocks and tackles to keep the lively strikers at bay. It was therefore a complete surprise when ventolin took the lead. Ransom found Dain in space in the middle of the pitch, Dain then dribbled past one man before hitting an early drive round the last defender and past the unsighted keeper.
This setback only seemed to inspire the Marauders who continued to press and create chances of their own, although to this point the Ventolin defence had stood firm. A Marauders equaliser was looking likely , although when it came Ventolin only had themselves to blame. Having conceded a corner half the Ventolin team were stranded mid pitch thinking it was a goal kick, this left only Barton and Dain back.. Barton foiled their first attempt, then Dain blocked one on the line, only for at the third time of asking the striker fired a powerful drive into the corner of the net.
This hiccup finally jolted Ventolin into life, who now began to start playing their passing game and creating chances of their own. Archdeacon went close after good work from Plass and then Ransom saw his effort tipped away by the keeper. Gavin then chipped over from close range before seeing another shot well saved after being teed up by Dain. Archdeacon saw a further effort saved after being played in by Dain.
Ventolin regained the lead with the moment of the match. Ventolin won a corner, which Plass lined up to take. He spotted Dain coming in from deep and chipped a perfectly flighted pass over the crowd of players for Dain to leap up and head down into the right hand corner of the net. The Ventolin players had barely finished celebrating when the referee blew for half time.
The second half stared much like the first only this time the Marauders punished Ventolin for their disorganisation and general slackness. Caught in possession up field the Marauders broke and counter attacked, outnumbering the defence once more, with Barton again doing his best to preserve his teams lead almost single handedly he could do nothing as the long range strike took a slight deflection off dain and into the opposite side of the goal.
Ventolin rallied and continued to pass and move, taking the game to the marauders, and in turn the marauders came back and created more chances of their own. The Ventolin strikers were guilty of some wasteful finishing in the second half , with good chances being missed or well saved. Gavin had a great chance to give Ventolin the lead again when clear through , only chipping over the bar once more. Archdeacon saw two efforts well saved, although on another night these would have been converted. With minutes remaining good work between Ransom and Archdeacon led to Plass finding himself in the box, where he played a one two with Archdeacon before steering the ball past the keeper to give Ventolin the lead once more. This time Ventolin remained calm, playing the ball around and taking the sting out of the game and in fact could have increased their lead when Plass missed a great opportunity late on. There was a scare in the final seconds as the ball bobbled around the Ventolin Box, but a combination of good fortune, good tackles and tired legs ensured a Ventolin victory.
post match comment to follow..
