Good Performance In Close Encounter

A good performance again by the lads, who created more chances and had more of the possession in a very close encounter against the bogey team that is Aller Park.

A very even first quarter saw the Warriors draw first blood: an excellent head-height corner from Isaac almost met by a leaping Ethan, cleared by the defence but only to Dylan who hit an excellent shot from the edge of the box. It was again just about met by the Aller Park defence, but Ethan reacted quickly to hit it into the right side of the goal.

Seconds later Ethan had a long shot to the bottom left just toed round the post by the Aller Park goalie. The first quarter lead was secured for the Warriors thanks to some solid defending by Eddie, Josh and goalie Alfie. Alfie in particular showed good leadership and decision making in goal.

The second quarter saw Sonny shine in midfield, with good intercepting by him in the middle of the pitch and strong tackling leading to attacking chances as well. The Warriors were solid across the middle and in the opinion of the fill-in coaching duo of Bishop and Conway (Ethan and Freddie's dads), were starting to look comfortably the better side. But this all changed with a rare Aller Park attack grinding through the left side of the Wells defence and through the box to net an equaliser. Then to compound the turnaround moments later, a speculative shot with fortune on its side by Aller Park put the Warriors a goal down.

At half time, the Warriors were surprised to be behind, but didn't give up: Sonny in particular starting the third quarter in determined style, covering large parts of the pitch to get stuck into some excellent physical tackles. The Warriors were unlucky to concede a penalty for handball from a strong shot, but justice was done as the Aller Park taker hit it wide to the left. Had it been on target, Eddie diving strongly the right way may well have had it covered.

Eddie continued a good performance in goal to keep the Warriors in touch, and in a similar fashion to Aller Park's second goal, Sonny had a speculative long shot successfully cross the line to level the scores at 2-2. Again the tide of the match turned, with the Warriors making more chances with good skillful passing attacks between Freddie, Ethan and Isaac, some good linking up the left channel in particular from Alfie, but the boys not quite managing to get the ball in the back of the net.

Heading into the final 10 minutes, just as it felt like it was a matter of time before the Warriors would convert one of their well-crafted opportunities, Aller Park continued their tradition of recent seasons by snatching it at the end, their forwards latching on to a very rare fourth quarter home attack and shot that had initially been parried by Eddie in goal.

The boys were disappointed to come away without the win from a very tight match, but the clear relief of the Aller Park coach at the end indicated how lucky the home side had been. The Warriors should be pleased with their performance, as they created more chances and had more of the possession.

Goals: Ethan, Sonny
Bishop-Conway coaching duo's man of the match: Sonny - a colossus in midfield: dominant in stifling opposition attacks with excellent tracking back, strong tackling all over the pitch, and probing attacking runs through the centre.