FC Village

Report: Shaftesbury 3 FC Village 3

After trailing 1-3 with some 20 minutes left this may feel like a moral victory as the Village clawed it back to snatch a point with a Maggot hat-trick but overall it was disappointing not to win. The Village were forced in to one change from the previous week as Mikey missed his first match in a long while due to being a bit under the weather which meant Stewy Morrell moved up to left wing with Fordy slotting in at left back. The only other change saw Matty get his first full game as Rutter joined McIvor, Knoxy and Spud on the bench with Booey still nursing an injury being named as the fifth man just in case.

As in most of their recent games it was the Village who dominated the opening proceedings and they went close several times through Matty, Danny and Maggot and from one corner it looked as though the ball crossed the line but the ref said it hadn’t. Shafts came in to the match and their passing game was similar to the visitors as they began to open up the Village defence. Then midway through the half the Village took the lead when Maggot got the ball in the area and jigged round a couple of defenders to stab home. However their lead was short lived as Shafts soon got on level terms although there was some controversy over it. A long cross field ball was picked up by the left winger and as he raced in to the area Dava clipped his heels but he managed to stay on his feet. As Andy came out the ref obviously allowed play to go on and the forward got in a shot which Andy palmed away to safety. The ref then decides to bring play back and give Shafts a free kick when he had already allowed the forward his advantage. The resulting free kick crept in at the far post and it was 1-1 which was the score minutes later when half time arrived.

Shafts opened the second half the brighter of the two sides and before you knew it they had taken the lead and minutes later stretched it. The first came from another free kick when although Andy made a good first save none of his defenders were on hand at the far post to stop a Shafts forward knocking home from close range. Then a breakaway down the left ended with a cross being slid home at the far post for 3-1 to the home side. The Village knew they had to do something and made a couple of changes as Dava and Colin were replaced by Rutter and Stewy McIvor which meant a couple of the players changed their positions. This seemed to work as the Village got back in to the match and started putting the pressure on the home goal. Just when it looked as though it wasn’t going to be their day especially when Matty thought he had scored his first goal for the club when his header appeared to cross the line before being hooked away they got back in to it. With the Village players appealing for a goal the ball fell to Maggot on the edge of the area and he made no mistake as he volleyed home in style to reduce the arrears. It was all Village now as they bombarded the home goal for that equalizer and with Knoxy having disappeared they threw on Booey in place of Matty in the hope they could complete yet another great comeback. They came very close on a couple of occasions but with the clock ticking it looked as though they weren’t going to do it but then Maggot got the ball out on the wing and he appeared to just cross it. Everyone watched in amazement as the ball sailed over the keepers head and in to the far side of the net for his hat-trick and 3-3. He did admit post match that it was a cross! The Village now thought that another Parkfield was on and they made one more attack and when Danny broke free in the area everyone thought it was going to happen but unfortunately he drove his shot straight at the keeper. That would have been harsh on the home side who had played their part in an entertaining game and seconds later when the final whistle went the draw was probably the right result.

Team Line-up

FC Village: Davies: Saunders(Rutter), Beattie, Stewart, Ford; Brennan, Williams(McIvor), Jones, Morrell; Smith(Easterbrook), Eaton
Subs not used: Greenfield, Knox

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	Report: Shaftesbury 3 FC Village 3 After trailing 1-3 with some 20 minutes left this may feel like a moral victory as the Village clawed it back to snatch a point with a Maggot hat-trick but overall it was disappointing not to win. The Village were forced in to one change from the previous week as Mikey missed his first match in a long while due to being a bit under the weather which meant Stewy Morrell moved up to left wing with Fordy slotting in at left back. The only other change saw Matty get his first full game as Rutter joined McIvor, Knoxy and Spud on the bench with Booey still nursing an injury being named as the fifth man just in case. As in most of their recent games it was the Village who dominated the opening proceedings and they went close several times through Matty, Danny and Maggot and from one corner it looked as though the ball crossed the line but the ref said it hadn’t. Shafts came in to the match and their passing game was similar to the visitors as they began to open up the Village defence. Then midway through the half the Village took the lead when Maggot got the ball in the area and jigged round a couple of defenders to stab home. However their lead was short lived as Shafts soon got on level terms although there was some controversy over it. A long cross field ball was picked up by the left winger and as he raced in to the area Dava clipped his heels but he managed to stay on his feet. As Andy came out the ref obviously allowed play to go on and the forward got in a shot which Andy palmed away to safety. The ref then decides to bring play back and give Shafts a free kick when he had already allowed the forward his advantage. The resulting free kick crept in at the far post and it was 1-1 which was the score minutes later when half time arrived. Shafts opened the second half the brighter of the two sides and before you knew it they had taken the lead and minutes later stretched it. The first came from another free kick when although Andy made a good first save none of his defenders were on hand at the far post to stop a Shafts forward knocking home from close range. Then a breakaway down the left ended with a cross being slid home at the far post for 3-1 to the home side. The Village knew they had to do something and made a couple of changes as Dava and Colin were replaced by Rutter and Stewy McIvor which meant a couple of the players changed their positions. This seemed to work as the Village got back in to the match and started putting the pressure on the home goal. Just when it looked as though it wasn’t going to be their day especially when Matty thought he had scored his first goal for the club when his header appeared to cross the line before being hooked away they got back in to it. With the Village players appealing for a goal the ball fell to Maggot on the edge of the area and he made no mistake as he volleyed home in style to reduce the arrears. It was all Village now as they bombarded the home goal for that equalizer and with Knoxy having disappeared they threw on Booey in place of Matty in the hope they could complete yet another great comeback. They came very close on a couple of occasions but with the clock ticking it looked as though they weren’t going to do it but then Maggot got the ball out on the wing and he appeared to just cross it. Everyone watched in amazement as the ball sailed over the keepers head and in to the far side of the net for his hat-trick and 3-3. He did admit post match that it was a cross! The Village now thought that another Parkfield was on and they made one more attack and when Danny broke free in the area everyone thought it was going to happen but unfortunately he drove his shot straight at the keeper. That would have been harsh on the home side who had played their part in an entertaining game and seconds later when the final whistle went the draw was probably the right result. Team Line-up FC Village: Davies: Saunders(Rutter), Beattie, Stewart, Ford; Brennan, Williams(McIvor), Jones, Morrell; Smith(Easterbrook), Eaton Subs not used: Greenfield, Knox More photos from this game click here Birkenhead & Wirral AFL Div 1 Shaftesbury, Saturday 28th March Shaftesbury 3 FC Village 3 Eaton(3)