Report: FC Village 3 Trafalgar Rangers 2

The Village ended their home campaign with a vital win over a team they had failed to beat in the past. That leaves them still in second spot and in with a great chance of finishing runners up to the new Champions Future. The Village were already missing the working JJ when they lost Pete to the flu, Leigh to family problems and Sadler to work on the morning of the game. This allowed the returning Dava to go straight back in the starting line up and he was joined by Cottier who made a rare appearance in the centre of defence. Martin joined Mike on the bench as the Village took on their bogey side in the last home game of the season.

As in a lot of their home games the Village got off to a flying start and within minutes they had opened the scoring when Lee’s long punt up field saw Maggot go clear of a static defence and he raced away to slot home his nineteenth league goal of the season. The home side were in the ascendancy now and they forced several corners and were awarded some free kicks in good areas. From one of these Ashley nearly made it 2-0 when his acrobatic overhead kick crashed off the bar and was cleared to safety. However the Village failed to capitalise on this pressure and the game swung the other way once Trafalgar had equalised. From a corner they used the wind to cause problems in the home defence and when Jay failed to punch clear the ball was swept in from close range for 1-1. It would be found the following morning that Jay played most of this game with a dislocated finger which he had sustained in the opening minutes and his double save a few minutes later would have been better than it was had everyone known. This came when the Village found themselves all at sea at having let in their first goal in over 300 minutes of football as Jay came out for a one on one and palmed the shot away. The ball fell between 2 Trafalgar forwards and by the time they had decided who took the next shot Jay had got back on his line and made another point blank save and this time Harper was there to head behind for a corner. The Village got themselves back together and within 10 minutes had surged in to a 3-1 lead. Booey restored the sides lead when he headed home Ashley’s pin point free kick at the far post and then Kev was held back in the box and the ref awarded a penalty. With Kev back on spot kick duty he duly stepped up and converted to make it 3-1. The Village came close a couple of more times before the half time whistle notably Nick’s header from a corner but they felt comfortable with their lead.

The home side continued to dominate the early proceedings in the second half and nearly increased their lead when a great move involving Ashley, Booey and Kev ended with the latter shooting narrowly wide. Trafalgar kept plugging away but with Nick and Cottier in fine form they never really threatened the home goal until a mistake in defence let them back in. This time a cross came in from the left and Jay and Harper collided with each other and the ball bounced off a forwards leg in to the open net. So it wasn’t so comfortable now but minutes later the game should have been settled once and for all. Ashley burst through the Trafalgar defence and just as was about to pull the trigger he was hacked down for another penalty. Having converted one already up stepped Kev but this time he saw his effort go the wrong side of the post and Trafalgar were still in it. Both sides battled to the end, the Village defending well and Trafalgar trying to get an equaliser. The ref turned away a penalty appeal late on and despite a tense last few minutes the Village hung on in there and got the win they needed. This was a big result for the team both in terms of finishing second and also laying to rest the fact that had never beaten their opponents before this game. So it’s down to the final game of the season and what a game that should be, against the newly crowned Champions Future and its up to the Village to be the one and only side to stop them completing a 100% record.

Team Line-up

FC Village: Hill: Wilson, Whorton, Cottier, Harper; Saunders(Metcalf), Oldam, Leeds, Doran, Machin; Eaton
Sub not used: Jones

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