Due to heavy rain during the week the venue for this game was changed to Swindon Village. A heavy pitch greeted both teams and following a game of missed opportunities
the Charlton Rovers Blues eventually came out on top.
The Blues were on the attack from the kick off as they stole the ball from the Abbeymead forwards and drove forward. The ball made its way to Joe B in the Abbeymead area.
Just as Joe B was about to unleash a shot, a fantastic last ditch tackle flew in from behind him and knocked the ball away to safety.
After a short stalemate, Abbeymead moved forward with the ball on the left and found a striker open on the edge of the Blues area. The Abbeymead striker saw Henry off his
goal line and looked to chip the ball over him. Fortunately for Henry and the Blues the shot went high and wide.
Soon after, Harry picked the ball up on the half way line following good work by Joe C to capture the ball back from an Abbeymead throw in. Harry battled with the
Abbeymead midfield and moved forward towards the edge of the Abbeymead goal area. With men over Harry firstly tried to pass the ball to his left to Joe B, but the pass was
intercepted. Fortunately the ball rebounded to Harry and he was able to pass the ball to his right to an open Joe C. With only the goalkeeper to beat, Joe C passed
the ball into the back of the net from a tight angle to put the Blues 1 - 0 up.
(Joe B, harry and Ben celebrate Joe C's goal whilst looks to join the ministry for silly walks.)
The next action saw Henry launch a huge kick that cleared the half way line and also the last two Abbeymead defenders. Joe B was onto it in a flash, and using his strength
to shrug off the Abbeymead defender he found himself in the Abbeymead area with only the goalkeeper to beat. Unfortunately for the Blues though, Joe shot straight at the
keeper and saw the ball rebound off the goalies knee and then into his grateful arms.
Almost immediately afterwards the ball moved into the Blues half where the Eagles won a throw in. From the throw in, a great layoff followed by a well timed run from
the Abbeymead no.11 saw him through into the Blues area where he was one on one with the on rushing Henry. Very coolly, the Abbeymead striker passed the ball into the
back of the Blues net to level the scores at 1 - 1. It was a nice piece of skill that grudgingly deserved a goal.
The last action of the game saw Joe A pass the ball to Will just outside the Eagles area. His turn and first time shot unfortunately went wide of the goal.
The second half saw the Blues start positively, and from an Abbeymead goal kick, Ben intercepted the ball and laid it off to Joe B on the edge of the Eagles area.
Joe tried to beat the two defenders, but instead saw the ball rebound to Joe C who threaded a perfect pass to Harry who was unmarked in the area. With only the goalkeeper
to beat, the ball seemed to get stuck between Harry's feet which allowed the Abbeymead defender to get back and make the recovering tackle. Another chance had gone by.
The defence was looking strong with Joe A making crunching tackles, Charlotte and Owen looking solid and Henry being untroubled in goal. With the foundation at the back laid,
the Blues looked to capitalise, but frustratingly, the good build up play was not resulting in an end product. A long stalemate followed until Will set Dewi free
on the right wing. Using his pace he raced away from the chasing defender and bore down on goal. The other defenders backed away and it looked like Dewi was going
to restore the lead, but unfortunately his shot went wide of the right hand post and out for a goal kick.
It looked like the Blues were going to be denied a win, when, with only two minutes remaining, Henry kicked a goal kick to Will on the half way line. Will turned, looked
up and threaded a perfect pass between 5 Abbeymead defenders to Dewi on the edge of the Eagles area. Dewi took the ball in his stride and blasted the ball into the
back of the net to put the Blues 2 - 1 in front. The finish was good, but the pass that made it was a cracker.
(Dewi turns to celebrate his winner against Abbeymead Eagles.)
With seconds remaining on the clock Abbeymead attacked and the Blues were relieved to see Henry make a great save from a free kick (the replay of which showed that
the referee had awarded it to the wrong team). The free kick was awarded on the edge of the Blues area, and from the direct kick, the ball hit Joe A on the backside.
The ball rebounded to an Abbeymead striker who shot first time. With the ball going towards the top corner, Henry moved to his left and plucked the ball out of the air.
From the resultant kick up field, the referee blew for full time and the Blues had recorded another well deserved win.
