If there was no other aims for Rebels in todays clash between the U18 Worthing Rivals, it was to put themselves in the game unlike the previous encounter between the 2 sides, and that they did.
With the side lined up in formation and personale as they were vs Littlehampton last week, Rebels kicked off with 1 change which saw Kyle Ashworth take the arm band with instructions to 'Pin Down' the worthing Town attacking threat Troy Heaver. In the first attack from Rebels 1 minute into the game Semdin Turan worked space to unleash a powerful left footed shot, which forced a save from the keeper winning Rebels the first corner of the match.
The warm up and pre match instructions which were fully focused on getting shots at the Town keeper were in full swing, as rebels contiued to batter the Worthing Town 18 yard box with shots, crosses and passes, in turn winning them a flurry of 5 corners withing the first 20 minutes. Not being able to deliver these crosses into the box saw 2 attacking opportunities wasted, hit into the side netting.
Town, who were now on the back foot realised they needed to get a foothold in this game before Rebels eventually and inevitably broke through. a quick flow of 6 passes ending with a through ball to the leagues top scorer Dom Lago resulted in Town netting their first on a quick break. Once again the important of finishing chances shoqing as rebels who were fully in control of the game found themselves on the losing side.
RB Nathan Rawlings took a headbutt to the temple after getting to an aerial challenge for the ball first which forced Davis into an early off the cuff substitution in the form of ga'al mohammed who came on to replace Rawlings in a straight swap. While Davis weighed up his options it was clear Ga'al was quite comfortable in the RB position dealing well on a few occasions in 1v1 scenarios as well as getting up the pitch to deliver deep crosses into the box.
From one of these deep crosses the ball rolls out to Sam Baker who manages to get the ball out of his feet, before unleashing a scorcher of a driven shot from his favoured left boot, which brought the game to a stand still for a heart beat as it clattered against the Town Crossbar.
As the game started to equal itself out in terms of possesion and shots, the Rebels defence stepped up their game to deny every Town an easy goalscoring opportunity every time they broke. The CB paring of Adam Taylor and Ashley Perry really starting to show form and cohesion as a Rebels defensive force, showing great ability to tackle strong on the floor and in the air, covering each other well on every occasion.
HALF TIME 0-1
Rebels Re entered the field with an unchanged squad for another 45minutes of football. With a scrappy restart from both sides and Rebels desperate for the ball back, a clumsy tackle gives Town a seeminly meaningless free kick about 10 paces away from the left hand side of the rebels area. In swings a right footed curling ball boucing on the 6 yard line that keeper George Slade couldnt keep hold of, an easy finish from 6 yards was gifted to Town for their second of the match.
End to end action carried on with Rebels not giving in, in turn earning them a penalty when the ref deemed a Town defender guilty of a hand ball, from all angles it seemed the player couldnt do anything when the ball was smashed at his stomach area on his own touchline. It was given, and was Calmly slotted away by Rebels top scorer Semdin Turan, putting him on 9 goals in 9 games so far this season.
a chance to equalise amoungst a few around all this actions came in the form of another long range belter from Baker that couldnt only be parried away by the town keeper, an alert Franco burst onto the lose ball with ease slotting it accross to an equally alert ashley hodzi who has his tap in denied once again off the line by an in from keeper.
Town quickly replied with their 3rd with some great one touch football quickly drawing the home sides formation apart allowing them space to slot through the final ball.
More battling drove the re occuring injuries of Taylor and Baker to take their toll forcing 2 more substitions.
The quickly rotated squad forcing a formation change and players swapping positions seemed to cause small panic for rebels, as tired legs conceeded a penalty. This far from meant the game was over, instead just gave Keeper Slade his chance to show some tekkers with a great diving save to his right hand side, thundering the ball away from a well hit penalty.
Town grabbed a 4th before the final whistle with an obvious advantage in the luck department. Maybe if all of Rebels chances came in penalty format the result would have been fairer based on todays great all round performance.
todays battle was lost but the war is very much out there to be won!
Worthing Rebels 1 - 4 Worthing Town
