Middlezoy Rovers reserves 3 Wrington Redhill 3
It may be still only Octoberl but this was the 3rd meeting between these 2 sides this season with honours even after the first 2. In a lively start to the game Middlezoy striker Alfonso Almeida brought a fine save from Hannah in goal for the visitors before, at the other end, Cam Milkins saw his rising shot beat keeper Travis Knapp before it hit the top of the bar and fly over. Middlezoy went ahead after a Dan Luce cross fell to Alfonso Almeida who blasted home from close range. Wrington Redhill were spurred on by going behind and were soon asking questions at the other end. Bell laid a ball into Jack Hutchings who looked certain to equalise until a last ditch tackle from defender Mead cleared the ball out for a corner. The resulting corner pinged around the 6 yard box until it fell to the dependable Chris Jones to equalise.
Half time 1 – 1.
The excellent playing surface is a testament to the Middlezoy ground staff who were out with their mini pitchforks at half time to repair the odd blemish left from a busy first half.
The 2nd half had hardly started when the home side retook the lead as the ever lively Almeida cut in from the left and jinked his way along the edge of the box before firing his shot into the bottom corner. Wrington Redhill’s day then got worse when Bell went down injured following a tackle he’d made himself. The physio went on with his magic sponge and other gumpf but was unable to revive him so on came English to replace him. Soon after things got going again Wrington Redhill were back on level terms when a through ball from Jones put Jack Hutchings clear to do what he does best and make it 2 all. No time to relax, from the kick off a long ball down the right bounced and sat up nicely for Adam Long to volley over Hannah and into the net, 3 – 2. At this point Wrington Redhill manager Scott Campbell threw caution to the wind and moved his giant centre back Connor Harding-James up front and went 3 at the back. He was soon effective hitting the bar with a header before flicking on a long clearance to put Hutchings clean through to slot the equaliser past keeper Knapp to make it 3 – 3. From here on nobody wanted to settle for a draw as both teams went flat out for the winner. Cam Milkins was probably hoping for some clemency as the ref strode towards him after he’d been moaning at him following a tackle but no, he had to sit out the last 10 minutes in the sin-bin. This gave Middlezoy a slight advantage but thanks to some excellent defending by Josh Skuse and Jenson Backhouse the game ended as a draw.
Supporters Man of the Match could have easily gone to Hutchings, Skuse or Harding-James fot some fine games but no, the supporters gave it to Jensen Backhouse for the huge contribution he made after coming on as a substitute.
Team.
Goalkeeper. Rob Hannah.
Defense. Cody Parslow, Josh Skuse, Connor Harding-James, Dan Berry.
Midfield. Josh Oliver, Cam Milkins, Kristian Bell.
Strikers. Luke Weeks, Chris Jones, Jack Hutchings.
Substitutes. Jack English (for Bell), Jenson Backhouse (for Parslow), Jenson Holmes (for Jones)
