BRINSWORTH WHITEHILL v ABBEY LANE 21/9/08

[Craig Millward]

BRINSWORTH WHITEHILL v ABBEY LANE JFC - 21/9/08

BRINSWORTH WHITEHILL (6) v ABBEY LANE JFC (7)
GOALSCORERS - JACK CHARLESWORTH (2), WILL MALLINSON (4), KANE TORPEY (1)
MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD -ARRON GORDON

MATCH REPORT

Abbey Lane travelled to Brinsworth, newly promoted to the B Division and came away with a 7-6 victory , in what can only be described as a great game for the neutral.
The game was a slow starter, as both teams cancelled out any early chances, but on 15 minutes some poor marking saw Brinsworth take a 1-0 lead. Abbey Lane kept at the task and pushed forward at every opportunity, then on 24 minutes the equaliser came. A mistake by the Brinsworth keeper where he miss kicked the ball on trying to clear saw JACK CHARLESWORTH collect the ball and powered it into the back of the net. This kick started the game into life, and on 27 minutes, Brinsworth took the lead again, with the Abbey Lane keeper racing out of his goal and missing the ball, due to some poor marking again, to take the score to 2-1 to the home team. Abbey Lane were determined to get back on level terms, and on 31 minutes, a great run and tussle to keep possession saw JACK CHARLESWORTH score his and the teams second goal to bring the first half to an end with the scores at 2-2.

The second half kicked off, and with in the 1st minute Abbey Lane were 3-2 up, a great ball forward saw WILL MALLINSON beat the defender and the keeper to slot home his first goal of the game. A carbon copy of the last goal saw Abbey Lane go 4-2 up, with WILL MALLINSON scoring his second on 8 minutes. This game looked as though it was going to run away from Brinsworth, as on 9 minutes WILL completed his hat-trick, where a great ball to the feet of KANE TORPEY saw him run wide and fire in an excellent shot, that the keeper could only parry away, but it fell to the feet of WILL MALLINSON who toe poked home from close range. With the game at 5-2 to Abbey Lane it looked plain sailing, but Brinsworth had other ideas, and pulled two goals back in the next ten minutes to bring the score to 5-4 to Abbey Lane. With 20 minutes on the clock, WILL MALLINSON completed a great run burying the ball into the back of the net to take the score to 6-4 to Abbey Lane with WILL scoring his fourth. Abbey Lane extended their lead on 25 minutes, when a battle in the middle of the park was won by CODEY MILLWARD, who played a great ball in to KANE TORPEY who took the ball wide and fired in a goal from what appeared to be an impossible angle. With the game now at 7-4, what could go wrong, the lads looked to have secured a win, and looked very comfortable and should possibly go on and score a couple more. BUT, Brinsworth were not dead and buried, and in the last ten minutes of the game, they scored a further two goals to take the final score to 7-6 to Abbey Lane.
The three points were welcome, but a few defensive errors allowed Brinsworth back in to the game. We have spoken about this as a team, and have all concluded this was a one off from a defence that is usually very solid, this we will judge in our next game.
Again this was a very good performance, with a scattering of mistakes, but three more points takes us into second place in the league ( a little too early to be looking at positions i know), but it is a boost to the lads and a good start to the season, lets hope it continues.