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| Andy settles in early | Tim's usual sprint back into defence |
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| Andy commands the midfield | More early action |
16th June 2000 - 19:00 - Attendance : 8 (new Alltraders record this season)- pitch 4
Alltraders tale of woe continues. Having failed to get a settled team together for the first four games, yet again Paul and Sal were unavailable due to work commitments, leaving Tim Leader the usual task of finding two last minute replacements. Fortunately, Warren's mate Gavin was available at short notice, and Tim's next door neighbour Andy had just about finished his plate of sausages and eggs when he got thirty minutes notice to get his training shoes and kit together.
Arriva have actually got a worse record than Alltraders in this competition having lost all four of their games so far, so a good result was expected tonight even though Alltraders were playing their fifth consecutive changed team.
With another two new players, it was always going to be a difficult task to get any rhythm together. However, Andy soon settled into his new role and started to take command of the midfield with some good moving off the ball and penetrating runs (probably something to do with the eggs). Gavin caused some early problems for the opposition with a couple of good first time shots that caused the goalkeeper a bit of inconvenience.
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| Andy settles in early | Tim's usual sprint back into defence |
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| Andy commands the midfield | More early action |
As the game went on, Alltraders started to take control of the game with Kevin and Andy coming very close to opening the scoring on several occasions. The opposition began to become increasingly physical with one particularly bad tackle on Tim Leader as he shaped up for a shot, removing of most of the skin from his left thigh and leaving him with a badly bruised nose. Honestly, it really hurt. Eventually the referee exercised his authority and warned the defender that he would be off if he did anything like that again.
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| More action | One more tackle like that and you're off! | Have time refreshment for the opposition 'keeper |
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| Arriva discuss the second half tactics | Gavin with a throw, |
With the first half ending goalless, Alltraders knew that all they had to do was to continue to press on the Arriva goal and wait for their luck to change. Eventually that happened when Andy broke free out of midfield and cut past two lunges from the opposition defence to launch a shot that flew past the 'keeper into the back of the net for a well deserved Alltraders lead.
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| Andy strikes | The 'keeper does a bit of 80's break dancing ... | ... as the ball flies past on
it's way to the back of the net |
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| Another crack by Kevin | Midfield action |
From then on, it looked like Alltraders were going to take full control of the game and finish with a flurry of goals. But remember, this is Alltraders we are talking about, and sure enough shortly after the goal a stray Arriva attacker was left completely unmarked as he met a long kick from the 'keeper, giving him the time and space to pick his spot past a stranded Warren Fiveash in goal.
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| Where was the marking? | Warren tries ... |
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| ... but fails to reach the shot ... | ... as the travelling fans celebrate
(what is that woman on the right holding?) |
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| Even the valiant efforts of Kevin ... | ... couldn't secure an Alltraders win. |
With only a couple of minutes left, Alltraders battled hard to regain their lead. Unfortunately Arriva did a better job than England in midweek at keeping their goal protected, and time eventually ran out on this entertaining game.
Clearly Alltraders are now well out of any qualifying position, but on the positive side Andy may well be available on a regular basis from now on adding much needed ability in the midfield for Alltraders. All that's left now is for Alltraders to try and regain a settled team and prepare for the winter league...
Final Score:
Alltraders
1 (0) - (0) 1 Arriva
Andy Westerman