They say a week is a long time in politics but that applies equally to football after we suffered two poor defeats in which we conceded 6 goals and then recovered to pick up 9 points from 3 games over the course of the following week which pushed us up 6 places to 3rd in the table.

Despite winning this local derby this was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde performance with a devastating 12 minute burst of scoring which saw us take a commanding 3 goal lead into half time followed by some slack play in the second period which allowed our opponents to have a faint whiff of a comeback in the final 30 minutes.

The first scoring opportunity fell to our guests after about 9 minutes when a long throw was nodded on dangerously across our area which we managed to clear. But AVD won the ball back and their centre forward Larry Kagwa burst through some challenges and from an acute angle drew a good save from Jake Alley,

We came alive in the 18th minute when from a lovely move out of defence Max played Harry Jones through into a promising position but he fired his shot over. Jonesy went closer 8 minutes later when he got his head to a pin point cross from David O’Connor only to see his effort bounce off the top of the bar.

After a slow start we started to dominate possession and we took the lead in the 33rd minute when Max cut in from the left and ran across the area before firing in a shot which deflected off an opposition player and wrong footed the keeper. Score 1-0.

There may have been a bit of good fortune about our opening goal but there was nothing lucky about our second which came from a classic Max Hercules set piece 2 minutes later. From around 28 yards he struck a superb free kick which gave the keeper no chance. Score 2-0.

We were now well on top and appeared to put the game beyond AVD when Dylan Fitzpatrick set up a 3rd goal in the 40th minute following a throw in. After the ball was played back to him he whipped over a sumptuous cross which Jack Harvey headed past the keeper. Our Captain can’t seem to stop finding the net at the moment and he has now scored 4 goals in the last 5 games, not a bad return for a midfield player.

Thus after a storming performance in the last 15 minutes of the game we probably thought that it was all over but that was not to be. HT Score 3-0.

Our opponents must have been given a rousing half time speech as they came out for the second half in a determined mood although we had a possible early opportunity when a long pass from Luke Peerless picked out Blake Argent but the keeper did well to come off his line to deny him.

AVD were given the life line they were looking for in the 59th minute when they were awarded a penalty which Larry Kagwa dispatched in some style so the game was far from over. Score 3-1.

Boosted by this goal our opponents enjoyed a fair bit of possession and pushed forward looking for another opening to reduce the deficit. We were a bit sloppy at times during this period but we did defend well and Jake Alley was not called into any serious action.

We did have some opportunities to score a 4th goal with Max being denied by a good save from the AVD keeper after being put through by a lovely deft pass from 17 year old Jack Stone. Later Harry Shepherd hit the bar with a header following a long throw and then George Devine did well to get into a good shooting position in the box but was denied by some stout defending. It was good to see George back in action after a period out with an injury. FT Score 3-1.

Our guests have had a tough start to the season and presently occupy bottom place in the table with no points. But they did well to recover from a disastrous first half, played some nice football and made us work hard for the win. We wish them all the best for the future.

Man of the Match was chosen by Match Sponsor Ralph Griffiths who selected Frankie Hercules.

Our next match is an away trip to Wellingborough Whitworth for an FA Vase game. They occupy 5th place in Division 1 of the Spartan South Midlands League and on Saturday they beat Buckingham 3-2 away so it will be a tough game.

TEAM
TA: Jake Alley, Eli Hearn, Dylan Fitzpatrick, David O’Connor (Mason Clarke 60), Caden Barber, Jack Harvey (Capt), Luke Peerless (Jack Stone 64), Blake Argent (George Devine 65), Max Hercules, Frankie Hercules (Lewis Dixon 83), Harry Jones (Harry Shepherd 64).

Scorers:

TA: OG (33), Max Hercules (35), Jack Harvey (40).

AVD: Larry Ponsian Tindi Kagwa (Pen – 59)

Crowd: 208

MoM: Frankie Hercules