Team: Simpson, Bardgett, Irivine, Kizzi, Egan, Williams, Patterson, Carlin, O’Leary.K,McMeekin, Wood, Nicolauo, Jones, O’Leary.D, Fabb, Shaw-Morris, Morris, Kelly, Spencer,Hughes
Scorer: Egan
Following our first friendly narrow 0-1 defeat to semi pro Haringey Borough, we again assembled a 20 strong competitive squad for this game against a team relegated from Division 1 last season.
We started slowly and escaped a couple of early scares, with Simpson saving the day,including an excellent tip round the post from a one on one. We then established our composure, closed the ball quicker, and started to move it round more effectively.
A flowing move down the right saw the ball cut across for Spencer to see an instinctive half volley flash wide. With the aim of giving every one an equal run out we made changes which saw an AP debut for young Joe Kizzi (certainly an exciting prospect if wecan fend off other interest!).
With 10 minutes to go to half time we won a corner on the right. Kier put in an excellent cross, and with Patterson causing havoc in the middle of the box, Egan stole in behind to power a bullet header past the static keeper (he’ll tell you he rose like a salmon!).
So 1:0 up at half time, we then changed our line up again. Far from disrupting our shape or consistency, we proceeded to produce some good flowing football, which saw Hughes go close with a cross shot and Fabb narrowly missing getting on the end of a Hughes cross. With the exception of a couple of lapses in concentration, we dominated large spells of the second half, although we need to turn possession into chances.
So a satisfying victory against strong opposition now provides a good platform, with 3 –4 more friendlies, before the real stuff starts on the 10th September …. bring it on!
