ECCLESALL JUNIORS v ABBEY LANE 6/4/08

[Craig Millward]

ECCLESALL JUNIORS (0) v ABBEY LANE (5)
GOALSCORER(S) -TOM FURNISS(3) SAM TERRY(1) NICK HAYES(1)
MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD -THE TEAM

MATCH REPORT -

Abbey Lane produced a performance that matched most of the games this season, where the lads were totally committed, the passing was good, the tackling was good, and for once the score line was good.
Abbey Lane played two halves of exciting football, and showed their determination to stay in the "B" Division, with a crushing 5-0 away victory at Ecclesall Juniors.
I asked the lads one question before kick off, and then told them their destiny is in their own hands. The whistle blew and instantly Abbey Lane were on the attack, coming close to opening the scoring with in the first five minutes, but some good saves by the Ecclesall keeper denied Abbey Lane the break they richly needed and deserved. The team kept to the task, and kept pushing forward, playing some excellent football from the back, through the midfield and then pushing the ball forward for the strikers. It looked like it was going to be one of those days again where Abbey Lane dominated the play but couldn't force a goal. On 26 minutes Abbey Lane gained the upper hand, with some nice triangular passing through midfield the ball was played out wide, where TERRY beat his man, and played an excellent ball to the feet of FURNISS who drew the keeper out before firing home. The relief on the players face was evident, and the nerves seemed to dissapear. Abbey Lane should have gone 2-0 up with only seconds remaining of the first half, but the shot was hit wide.

I told the lads at half time that we deserved our lead, and really we should have been further infront. I told the strikers they needed to relax a little and not rush the shot, as times in the first half they probably had more time than they thought.

The second half kicked off, and the questions to be asked were " could they keep up the pressure they had put Ecclesall under in the first half , and could they extend their lead, by being more clinical in front of goal". The answer to both questions was YES THEY COULD. With five minutes of the second half gone Abbey Lane doubled their lead, again with this goal all positions were involved in the build up. A quick ball thrown out to the wing by our keeper started the move, it was played through midfield with sharp little passes before been pushed forward splitting the defence, where FURNISS again rounded the keeper and shot home. The team were playing some excellent football and with only 8 minutes of the second half gone Abbey Lane went 3-0 up. Again some excellent football saw Abbey pushing on goal again, an excellent shot by FURNISS could only be palmed away, but up stepped utility man HAYES to fire home from close range. Abbey Lane were looking really comfortable now, but the moment of the game came when Ecclesall broke through the Abbey Lane rear guard, one on one with the keeper the Ecclesall striker belted the ball to the keepers right, hard and low, some how POND between the sticks dropped to his right getting one hand on the ball and stopping it dead, before cooly collecting with both to rid the team of any danger. Instantly from this Abbey Lane pressed forward and on 17 minutes scored a fourth. With excellent passing and movement from the lads, they raced through midfield, a pin point pass to FURNISS on the edge of the area saw a good first touch to pull the ball under control before unleashing an unstoppable shot to claim his hat-trick. The lads were really enjoying their football and constantly had Ecclesall under the cosh, and on 28 minutes Abbey Lane made it 5-0. A beautiful ball from midfield was nodded on by VARDY beating the defenders, from no where came our pocket rocket TERRY to chase the ball into the area before sidefooting the ball home. The game ended at 5-0 to Abbey Lane, with the MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD going to THE TEAM as you could not pick one individual out after a team performance like this.

This is really only the first half, as we have our last game next Sunday where we have got to do it all again to guarentee safety. One point is enough or maybe we could already be safe dependant how other results go, but i don't want to rely on anyone else, and i also want a performance to match this one in our last game. This kind of result has been coming all season, we have dominated a lot of games but not got the end product as we have squandered chances, so hopefully we have saved the best till last.

WELL DONE LADS !!