A good team performance against Seal Juniors from the A Division in the Tournament Shield.
We started the game strongly and put Seal under early pressure, but we fell behind after about ten minutes to a well-taken goal against the run of play. Shortly afterwards we conceded a goal scored by one of two Seal forwards in offside positions. Worse was to follow when the referee failed to spot a Seal forward controlling the ball with his hand before scoring their third. We conceded a further (legitimate) goal and ended the first half 4-0 down, despite having had territorial advantage and more possession.
We started the second half as we did last week, kicking towards our favourite goal. We trapped Seal in their half, but couldn't find the net - not helped by unsporting play by Seal defenders, again unpunished by the referee. We conceded a fifth goal as Seal started to break out, to an excellent long-range shot, but Jamie Hards prevented two certain goals with great saves - the first after the referee wrongly gave a free kick when Jamie picked up an attempted clearance.
We continued to dominate the second half and the pressure eventually paid off, when Jamie Wickham scored with a superb shot. Seal scored a sixth goal and the referee restarted the match with a Seal player still in our half, to cap a refereeing performance of quite astonishing ineptitude.
There were lots of great performances as usual: Tom Ryan, Martin Hill and Ben Spring were superb at the back, abetted by Jack Holden who made a great last-ditch tackle after coming on at half-time; Greg Byrne and Chris Nissen were strong and brave in midfield, and the forwards continually asked questions of the Seal goalkeeper, but couldn't find the finish. Jamie Hards was man of the match for an outstanding performance in goal, and out of it when he rushed out to make vital clearances. |