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| Tim battles | The keeper hops out of the area |
10/03/2000 - Attendance : 3
Things were not looking good tonight on a couple of fronts. Firstly, Alltraders had dropped to fifth place following last week dreary one-all draw with Lennies. With only two games left to go in this competition, the fourth placed team are left to play the bottom two teams, whereas Alltraders have to battle it out with the top two teams. Secondly, Paul, Jamie and Warren all withdrew from the team at short notice leaving Tim and Kevin to make frantic phone calls to fill the two vacant positions with only a couple of hours left before kickoff. Fortunately, our old friend Barry Needham came to the rescue bringing a couple of his mates along as extra backup.
Having expertly navigated our way into the leisure centre around the newly arrived Gypsy caravans and Donkey droppings, the new-look Alltraders took to the pitch for this penultimate game of the season to do battle with tonight's opposition, Engley FC.
In the first few moves of the game, Alltraders battled well to keep the opposition at bay. At this stage the game seemed finely balanced with both sides coming close to opening the scoring. However, it was a slip-up by the Alltraders stand-in goal keeper that led to the first goal. Obviously unaware of the rules, he strayed well outside his goal area to cover a loose ball presenting the opposition a gift goal from the resultant penalty.
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| Tim battles | The keeper hops out of the area |
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| The penalty is placed ... | ... out of the keeper's reach |
Less than a minute later, Engley went further ahead following a strong run down the right wing. The new Alltraders team were struggling to find any rhythm or movement against their stronger opposition...
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| Another attack | ... another goal | Yep, it's going
to be one of those nights ... |
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| The ref closes the first half |
The second half saw a much improved Alltraders performance. The defence were more assured and Tim and Kevin came very close to scoring on four or five occasions. Kevin was unlucky to hit the crossbar following a fine run down the centre of the pitch, and Tim Leader missed two gilt-edged chances to score with just the goalkeeper to beat.
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| Kevin's shot hits the bar | More battling in the midfield | Tims chip ends up in the balcony |
Although battling hard to claw the game back, time eventually ran out for Alltraders against a much younger and fitter opposition. Engley were worthy winners on the night and should do well in the knockout stages.
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| Tim misses again
from an identical position |
Sorry lads, that's it for tonight | Sal and Kevin are glad it's over |
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| A quick handshake | "Have a sweety, Daddy" | A job well done for Engley |
So, unless Horley Casuals lost tonight then all hope of qualification is over. Yet again Altraders were let down by their inability to field a settled side. Still, miracles do happen!
Look out for next weeks final match report of the New year 2000 competition!
Final Score - Alltraders 0 (0) - (2) 2 Engley FC
Pictures: Kirsty