Falcon Juniors 1 vs 5 L4 Football Academy

Games against Falcon Juniors have never been dull, you only have to think of the roller coaster cup semi-final towards the end of last season which ended in a 5-5 thriller, with the Kirkby outfit eventually going through via the penalty shoot out. We managed to avenge that with a fine performance in pre-season lifting The ASCC cup but it's been a rocky ride since. The opening two games may not have gone our way but we could take confidence from our performance against Predator last time out. The 4-4-2 formation was kept for this game with Kalu moved to right back and a first start for Zach who had a decent first half with some good link up play and tidy touches. Dan Galvin came back into the side on the left and had by far his best performance in an L4 shirt. He got chalk on his boots and was a real threat in the left channel all game. The conditions were difficult with strong winds swirling around Joe Stone. Despite starting on the front foot we looked a bit sluggish and some of our decision making at times was questionable. We peppered their goal but just couldn't convert. To be fair to their keeper he was playing well but we have to be more ruthless in front of goal as our chance to conversion rate is poor. The breakthrough finally came after 24 minutes when Zach flicked the ball into the path of Gift who used great strength and balance to junk past two men and fire a left foot finish into the net. Gift added a second just before half time after some good work down the right from Jude Carter but we should really have been four or five up.

Dan Galvin was creator supreme in the second half setting up Ethan for his second of the season and crossing for Gift to complete his hat-trick with a slight touch which diverted into the net in the 48th minute. These came either side of a Falcon's goal which Harry will be dissapointed with. It was a fiercely struck free kick which he failed to hold, and the rebound was tapped in. It was a soft goal to concede and the first real attempt we'd given them. Defensively we looked solid today with Sam & Jay otherwise in total control. Victory was wrapped up with Paddy adding a fifth just two minutes from time. Ethan played a clever ball over the top which found our skipper one on one with the keeper. He decided against a left foot finish and dragged the ball back onto his right guiding the ball into the empty net. The positive is getting the first win in the bag but we can play so much better, maybe though this is the springboard for us to kick on from.