07/09/2009 - Report by Steve Hill

Report: Woodchurch 3 FC Village 3

A great second half comeback from the Village as they came from 0-3 down to draw level and then saw keeper Kano keep out a Woodchurch penalty to ensure they got their first point of the season. Beattie now joined Maggot and Stewy Mc on the injury list and as they were also without Scott, Fordy and Spud who were all unavailable it meant a run out for Crozzer in the centre of midfield. With Matty turning up late due to work Booey was pushed up top on his own and apart from Kano returning in goal and Dava at right back the rest of the line up was the same as their last game.

Even though the pitch had grass on it, it was still bumpy in places and you could see that the ball wasn’t going to run true most of the time. This however didn’t make any difference to the way the Village started for within 5 minutes of the kick off they were a goal down. When the Woodchurch doubled their lead midway through the half they must have thought they were going to be in for an easy day and an even easier two points. The Village were soon forced in to their first change when Fletcher went off injured to be replaced by Josh with both Nick and Booey moving back in to defence and midfield respectively to let him go up front. However you could see that when the Village did attack, the home side looked somewhat vulnerable at the back. On one occasion Rutter found himself in space and with time in the area but his shot just went wide of the far post. Down at the other end it looked like it was just a matter of time before the Woody increased their lead but with Kano, Dava, Paul, Nick and Stewy fighting like mad they kept them at bay and it was still only 0-2 at half time.

After the interval when there was some harsh words said amongst the players the Village had made one change as Matty replaced Harper and they were virtually playing 4-3-3. They certainly started the better of the two sides but when the Woody scored for a third time everyone must have thought that the game was over for them. However they rolled up their sleeves and got at the home side putting more and more pressure on them as Dava came closest with a 30 yarder that hit the bar. Then came the break the side needed as one of Crozzer’s corner’s helped by the wind curled in at the near post and with a defender under pressure from Rutter the ball went in for the clubs first goal of the season. It may have been an own goal but Crozzer was laying claim to it being his as it was on target. Still it didn’t really matter as it gave the Village the belief that they were still in with a shout. This became more evident some 5 minutes later when on another attack the ball fell to Matty out on the left side of the area and with no defender near him he was able to stab the ball wide of the keeper for 2-3. Game definitely on now and the Village full of confidence poured forward in the hope they could get that equaliser and Matty came so close with a great effort that just went wide. With everyone playing for each other the side looked now looked like a team and with some 10 minutes left the ref gave them a really good chance to pull level. A cross from the left went towards Booey in the area and it certainly looked like he was nudged in the back and the ref immediately pointed to the spot. With no Maggot the Village players were asking who was going to take it but Matty just picked the ball up and went over to the spot. A short delay ensued as the Woody official argued with the ref over awarding the kick but Matty kept his cool and sent the keeper the wrong way to make it three each. There was still time for them to win it and in the next attack Danny found himself with a free run but he was stopped by a good tackle. Then the ball went up the other end and the Village players all thought Booey was fouled before the ball went in to the area and one of the home forwards was brought down. The ref pointed to the spot for the second time and a Woody took it and scored but the ref made him take it again and this time Kano dived to his left and made a great save to keep it out. The last few minutes were every tense as the Village now didn’t want to throw it away and they played the remaining time out to earn their point. A poor first 45, a half time ding dong and an excellent second 45, quite a game in the end!

Team Line-up: Kane: Saunders, Stewart, Fletcher (Dunroe), Morrell(St); Rutter, Jones, Doran, Whorton, Harper (Smith); Easterbrook
Subs not used:-

More photos from this game click here