Scorers: Manu, K. O’Leary
On a poignant day for the club, AP reserves hosted BB eagles at the racecourse with the pitch looking in great condition. Thanks to the supporters, particularly the 1st team players who didn’t have a game, who came down to cheer us on.
Whereas last week’s draw was a point gained, this one was very much two points dropped. The first few games this season we’ve prided ourselves on our patience and ability to keep the ball. That went out the window this match, with a lack of appetite for the ball and mindless long balls for the front two to chase.
We were struck a double blow in the first half with Brucey having to go off with an old knee injury and a weak penalty given away when skips was involved in a tangle of legs in the box. We stayed 1 down until half time despite crafting a number of chances including Ricky Shaw’s header which hit every piece of wood work before bouncing out. Mike Hubbard thought he’d scored after beating the offside trap but the ball drifted agonizingly past the wrong side of the post.
We came out a different team after skip’s team talk and straight away Ricky came close from a Dan Wilding cross. The breakthrough came after some good play down our right hand side ending with Mike Hubbard chesting down for Les to control and volley home a cracking goal. The game remained scrappy as we failed to get hold of and keep the ball but we still felt we had the measure of BB and could get the 3 points.
Our second goal finally came with 10mins to go. Richy H picked up a Fabb throw-in and played in substitute Nana who drove into the box. He was felled and Kieran stepped upto convert to take the lead. With a few minutes on the clock we were hoping to close out for the win but the ref had different ideas. He gave the weakest free kick of the day right on the edge of the area. The resulting floated cross was bundled in at the back post despite Jeater’s efforts to claw it out. A disappointing finish to the match.
Thoughts of the day:
- Turn up on time.
- We are one of the better teams in the division and have the ability to pass teams off the pitch. That cannot happen if half the team don’t want or demand the ball. We are all good enough to get it, control and pass it so we should have the confidence to do so.
Team: Smith, Mcloughlin (Kadua), Jeater, Shaw, Fabb, Wilding, Hancock, D. O’Leary, Manu, Hubbard, McMeekin (K. O’Leary)
No real man of the match but tip of the proverbial to Jason Smith who came up for his 2s debut and looked solid all game in between the sticks.
