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| Gavin on the ball |
30th June 2000 - 20:30 - Attendance : 7 - pitch 4
Another week, another team... The usual last minute scratching around for players was less of a problem this week with the team being named a good 24 hours before kickoff - quite a luxury for Alltraders this season. This week we see the return of Paul Burton with Gavin, Tim and Kevin all manning the outfield. The ever dependable Warren 'weekend trials at Tottenham Hotspur' Fiveash kept goal as usual. George Graham obviously hasn't seen the Alltraders web site yet (but there's still time...).
CPI are another team Alltraders have played against many times before. In general the honours have been just about been split over the years. However with Alltraders appalling start to this campaign, CPI were clear favourites to take the points tonight.
The game started with an Alltraders kick. Surprisingly Alltraders settled into a steady rhythm right from the start and actually looked quite good in spells. CPI were covering well at the back, but they could not stop a typical Kevin Burton charge on goal that resulted in his shot smashing against the bar and out for a throw.
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| Gavin on the ball |
Cpi responded well with several penetrating runs through the Alltraders defence. However, tonight the Alltraders defence was looking assured with Kevin and Paul as solid as ever.
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| Some more of Kevin's skin is deposited on pitch 4 ... |
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| ... as the attacker flies gracefully through the air. |
For all of Alltraders valiant defending, Kevin Burton made an un-characteristic slip-up close to the end of the game that allowed an opposition attacker to rob him of the ball with just Warren to beat.
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| Straight through Warren's legs (George Graham, look away now) |
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| One - nil... |
So, with just two minutes left, Alltraders pushed hard on the CPI goal to try and save the game. Yet again it was Kevin Burton that nearly snatched it at the death with a fierce shot with the outside of his right foot that skimmed the top of the bar and out for a goal kick.
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| More flying sand as Kevin's shot beats the 'keeper, but skims the bar |
So, Alltraders have yet to secure their first win of this competition. Next week will see an important clash against Dave Coppards 'Can't score won't score'. This is the team we trained with pre season and beat every time, so an entertaining game is definitely on the cards. We should also have the services of Andy from next door and his mate Tony that turned up tonight to watch. Mind you after tonight's defeat we may never see them again, but who knows...
Good luck to Warren with his trial at Spurs tomorrow. Remember you saw him here first, and I taught him everything he knows.
Don't forget to return next week for another thrilling Alltraders match report, if you can bear it...
Final Score:
Alltraders 0 (0) - (0) 1 CPI Crawley