HATS OFF TO THE LADS FOR IMPRESSIVE WIN

Saturday saw us travel to Luton for a tricky League match against Crawley Green. The game was played at The Brache which is where Luton Town train and as every football fan knows they are nicknamed the Hatters because the town was famous for making these head coverings.
As seems to be the norm these days we had to make a number of changes to our line up and in particular we were bereft of central defenders. Fortunately we had Dave O’Connor back from injury to play his first competitive game of the season and its always great to see the big man back in action as he is such a key player for us. Playing alongside DOC was Harry Beaumont who seamlessly dropped back from midfield. Harry is such a good passer of the ball and the 3G pitch obviously suited him and the rest of the team.

We should also mention that Mason Clarke moved over from right to left back and showed what an exciting prospect he is. Completing the back four was Lee Stobbs who was playing in his normal right back position but had the added responsibility of wearing the Captain’s arm band in the absence of George Carbery.

For the first 45 minutes we were superb dominating play and pinging the ball around nicely on a perfect surface. Bailey Osborne was on fire causing the home defence all sorts of problems with his pace and directness and our supporters must have lost count of how many times he got passed the opposition defence down both wings to the bye line. Unfortunately we were unable to take advantage of these golden opportunities.

Our hosts had their moments when a misplaced pass out of defence gave them an opportunity but the player scuffed his shot straight at Dan Gould. Later Dan was called into action again to make a good save when the home centre forward had a sight of goal.

Following another great move Ben Kekembo was fouled in the area and a penalty was awarded. With our two regular penalty takers absent Harry Beaumont took over the responsibility and he coolly put us ahead with his first goal for the Club in the 21st minute. Score 0-1.
Soon afterwards DOC had a header from a corner cleared off the line and then a few minutes later Jack Harvey had a goal bound shot blocked. We needed a second goal and our two young strikers combined superbly to double our lead in the 30th minute. Ben Kakembo’s powerful run and cross was met at the near post by Bailey Osborne who cleverly flicked the ball into the net at the near post. Score 0-2.

In the 36th minute Jack Harvey and Bailey Osborne combined to put Ben away down the right who muscled his way past the defender and shot just wide of the far post. The half ended with us holding a two nil lead although considering how much we dominated the game it should have been by a bigger margin. HT Score 0-2.

Whatever the Crawley Green Manager said at half time certainly worked as they came out fired up and scored within 3 minutes of the restart with a lovely finish from Ace Barker to get them right back into the game. Score 1-2.

We were under the cosh and there was feeling of déjà vu after we conceded a two goal lead on Tuesday night to Aylesbury Vale Dynamos. On the hour mark we had an anxious moment when we had to scramble a dangerous free kick away.

But full marks to the players who showed terrific commitment and desire to weather the storm and come back strongly. In the 66th minute Harry Jones saw his effort go just wide of the far post but four minutes later he made no mistake when he headed in an exquisite cross from the impressive Dylan Fitzpatrick. Score 1-3.

Nine minutes later we put the game to bed when Frankie Hercules converted a cross from Lee Stobbs at the far post. FT Score 1-4.

As we know there are no easy games at this level and our record shows that we had failed to beat Crawley Green in our previous 7 meetings (4 Draws and 3 defeats) so full credit to the players who had the quality to come away with a convincing 4-1 victory.

We should also mention that Ryan Sturges and his coaches blooded another member of our youth team when he brought on Blake Argent.

We have another tough away fixture on Saturday when we travel to Cockfosters for a Premier Division League game.

Team: Dan Gould, Lee Stobbs (Capt), Mason Clarke, Harry Beaumont, David O’Connor (Blake Argent 82), Jack Harvey (Charlie Bradshaw 85), Harry Shepherd, Harry Jones, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Bailey Osborne, Ben Kakembo (Frankie Hercules 64).

Goals:

CG: Ace Barker (48)

TA: Harry Beaumont Pen (21), Bailey Osborne (30), Harry Jones (70), Frankie Hercules (79)

Crowd: 45