Smithswood Firs 2 vs 1 St Georges Warriors

Smithswood Firs took on one of last seasons Premier elite in St Georges. The team lined up as follows;

Harber 

Else  

Morris

Rooke 

Glenn 

Thomas 

Evans 

Short 

Wall 

Anderson

Hession 

Subs: 

Mayers 

Harris 

Marshall

Wilkins 

Sayer

1430 The match kicked off and Smithswood took the game straight to St Georges 

1435 Wall attacked down the left and pulled the ball back to Anderson whose shot was saved by the keeper. Anderson wins it back and passes it to Hession who calmly taps in a great team move.

1-0 Scorer: Simon Hession Assist: Aaron Anderson

1438 Hession is fouled outside the box. Short whipped in the free-kick and Rooke narrowly missed at the back post

1447 Wall won a free kick which was crossed in by Rooke. Morris challenged the keeper winning a corner which comes to nothing. 

1449 Anderson passes the ball into Hession whose shot was blocked but he was first to react and lay it to Evans who calmly slotted the ball home. 

2-0 Scorer: Craig Evans Assist: Simon Hession

1450 Anderson cuts in field and spreads the ball wide to Thomas who beats two defenders and shoots narrowly over the bar

1457 Evans passes wide to Thomas who beats one defender and shoots low making the keeper save 

1459 Wall drove at the full back but defenders doubled up on him to shepherd it out of play 

1506 Thomas whipped a corner in and Morris almost has a free header but it is just too high for him to get his head on and goes over 

1510 Glenn puts in a great tackle on the half way line which bounces nicely to Hession who is almost free but is just crowded out by defenders 

1511 Wall and Anderson combine neatly to put Hession through on goal but the keeper is quick off his line and just clears ahead of Hession getting onto the pass

1512 Wall long shot goes just wide

1515 St Georges win a throw on the right. They take it short and get a cross into the box. The cross isn't cleared and drops to their player who buries it in the top corner just before half time 

2-1

Paul Ryder's team talk probably changed after conceeding the goal a minute before half time. Ryder wasn't happy with the goal which he said was through poor marking. He also said that they were holding on to the ball for too long and needed to improve their final pass. If the lads could improve in these areas they certainly had the beating of St Georges

1522 Kick off

1528 St Georges corner headed towards goal but headed clear from Morris, an early warning for Smithswood 

1530 Wall won the ball back and then skinned their full back and was cynically bought down from behind but the ref didnt produce a card. The free-kick was cleared by their defence 

1532 Harris on for Wall who had took one too many dodgy challenges and needed to come off

1535 Snap shot from Harris saved by the keeper 

1536 Evans broke from midfield and hammers shot just wide 

1537 St Georges won a free-kick on the edge of the area. Their shot was excellently blocked by the wall

1544 Smithswood continue to probe as Thomas feeds the ball into Harris who turns but scuffs his shot. Harris then bends a shot over the bar from outside the box as Smithswood try to put the game beyond St Georges

1549 Thomas skinned their full back and crossed to Anderson whose lay off to Harris just misses Harris as Smithswood continued to press

1551 St Georges win a corner which is headed over by them and is another warning to Smithswood

1551 Mayers comes on for Hession who has run himself into the ground

1553 Mayers first touch sees him show the full back down the line and cut inside and get a shot off with his left foot but is saved by the keeper

1556 High ball by St Georges is not cleared and their striker manages to get a shot off but luckily it goes high and wide

1559 Marshall comes on for the injured Glenn who is in the wars again

1605 Thomas puts a quality ball over the defence to Harris who beats the keeper to the ball. The keeper is up quickly and dives in at Harris again but he beats his diving tackle and crosses into the box but the defence clears

Final Score Smithswood Firs 2-1 St Georges

Man of the Match: Simon Hession