DARLASTON ATHLETIC 3 vs 3 Royal FC

As a frustrating but eventful season drew to a close , ;eague leaders Rpyal turned up full of confTheidence , having turned us over twice already . With a depleted injury ravaged squad , and Nobby reporting unavailable also , Luke Lloyd was drafted into an unfamiliar playmaker role against the champions elect . We started really well, forcing several corners and giving as good as we got , hitting the post and bringing out several quality saves from the Coseley based keeper . Royal, to their credit, took their chances , pouncing on a defemsive error , then a goalkeeping mistake to take a 2-0 lead into the interval. Our eternally positive optimistic manager Shaun Cassidy must have delivered a rousing half time speech as we stormed into life . With wave after wave of attack we looked like our old selves, every player refusing to lie down and take defeat . Colin pulls back for Ricky Owen and its 1-2 . Charlt and Luke Lloyd combine to set up another chance in a beautiful move . When Robbos corner found Liam Poll to equalise , the Royal cracked , so much so that a red card reduced them to 10. When Col broke through it looked easy for him to score but he rolled Ricky in to just about force home . 3-2 up but we couldn't quite hang on for the win as Royal battled back , receiving two more crazy reds and smashing the away dugout before heading the equaliser . It didn't seem to matter for us after one of our best showings of the season . Well done lads we went out in style !