Longbenton 2-2 Kestrel's

After an unexpected 3 week break due to the weather we finally had a match to play, this match was always going to be special as it was our captain Tom's final game for us before he goes to live in Australia. Our squad was low with injuries and suspensions but we still had enough quality in our squad to win this game or so we thought. Too many players did not perform wether it was down to not playing for a while or the poor weather conditions or the fact Tom was leaving I don't know, but there should be no excuses the simple fact is that we were'nt up for the game and got what we deserved

1st half
We were very poor this half with only Tom putting in the kind of performance that is expected, however we nearly took the lead after 15 minutes with some good build up play and a neat flick by Alan to put Robert through who shot well only to graze the bar. 20 minutes in and Longbenton had taken the league , our failure to deal with a simple ball into the box lead to a bit of a scramble and the ball fell to their player to tap in a very poor goal by our standards 0-1. The strong winds were definetly affecting the way we played our football. We wasted a free kicks and corners due to poor crosses and lack of concentration but we got ourselves back into the game when Robert put in a corner which fell to Lewis and he finished well to make it 1-1 after 30 minutes. We were down to our final 11 due to injuries in the game but the 11 we had should have been good enough to cope with a game like this but too many players were hiding expecting others to go and win the game for them, instead of putting in the hard work themselves and helping the team be strong. The half ended 1-1

2nd Half
after a rollocking the team deserved we went out with a much better attitude this half and dominated most of the half after getting used to playing against the wind we pushed on and started creating chances. Stevie Lee came close, then Liam burst through midfield a fired a hard shot right into the corner of the net. 2-1 after 45 minutes and it looked like only 1 winner as Longbenton had little to offer but with 5 minutes remaining Longbenton were given a free kick, their player took it well it carried with the wind and sailed into the goal to make it 2-2. We went al out to get the winner, whilst attacking 1 of their players stamped on Joe A in the corner, the ref who had a great game saw the incident and sent their player off. We went all out attack for the last few minutes and came close but then Longbenton broke away and got past Scott only to hit the side netting, we went straight back up and got a corner which was knocked wide and ended 2-2

At the end of the game Tom our Player of the Match and team captain recieved a Guard of Honour by both sets of players and coaches to thank him for everything he has given to the team and to the club. Tom you will be greatly missed by everyone.

This is a game we should have won but lack of concentration and effort doesn't win games, hard work and determination does. Every team we play in the league wants to beat you because your at the top so no game will be easy and you will have to earn every win not just to expect the win. We need to see a better level of performance in the 2nd half of the season if you want to win this league. Team Performance 7/10, at least we are still unbeaten