Report

This was our 3^rd meeting against Corfe this season and as always this was a game that we approached warily. Corfe are a physical side that battle to the end and will seize opportunity if a team loses their guard. Our previous encounters had seen us win 3-1 away from home in the league and also knock Corfe out of the Dorset Cup 2-0, earlier this year.

 With Dean being unwell we only had 12 players available including an ‘under the weather’ Frank. Regardless of this we started brightly and the majority of play was in the Corfe half. We had various efforts on goal in the opening minutes but nothing that required their Keeper to come into play. On 6 minutes, Jack lobbed a high ball into the box for Frank to run onto, as he tussled with the defender Frank was grounded however the ref waived ‘play on’. On 14 minutes Frank chased a ball into the box and seemed to have managed to fire the ball into the net only for it to rebound off the post. Luckily, Jack was on hand to attack the rebound and shoot the ball into the net, 1-0.

On 19 minutes, Frank was fouled in left corner, the resulting freekick was headed goal-ward only for a Corfe player to head off the line. On 28 minutes, Tony’s high corner was met powerfully by Ryan’s head only for the ball to go over the bar and 2 minutes later the same thing happened however this time it was Mikey who headed over. On 31 minutes Tony and Jack linked well allowing Jack to shoot from right hand side of box, past the keeper but narrowly past the post. On 32 minutes Jacob was called on as Corfe managed to get past our defensive line for the first time, he dived low to trap their first shot on goal. Half-time 1-0. Overall a good 1^st half performance with some great physical performances particularly from Dan, Matty and Dash however how were we only 1-0 up???????

2^nd Half on 2 minutes Jack broke away from defenders towards keeper but shot went wide of the post. On 12 minutes Tony passed to Mikey who moved into the box beating two defenders before curling a high left foot shot which the keeper held. 16minutes, the Corfe Keeper sent a goal kick low which was intercepted by Tony who put a pass through to Jack. Jack ran on beating a defender before making no mistake with his low drive into the corner, 2-0 (finally). Corfe then had a short spell where they began to move higher up the pitch and hassle our defense. On 21 minutes Corfe were awarded a free-kick on their left, it was kicked towards goal and should have been easy to deal with but as has happened so often before, we stood still and watched and failed to react. 2 Corfe attackers reacted and easily pulled a goal back, 2-1. On 23 minutes some spectators thought we had scored a 3^rd as Jack sent a high shot/cross from the right which narrowly dropped behind the goal. On 25 mins a corner from Tony saw another goal line clearance, this time from a Mikey header. Shortly after this a battling run by Tony which saw him cross the width of the pitch before sending a pass to Liam. Liam held the ball up before unselfishly laying the ball back for the approaching Ryan to shoot. His high shot caused the keeper problems but he managed to tip it over the bar. The resulting corner was high over the keeper where Mikey was on hand to head in to make it 3-1. Full time 3-1.

This was a positive result after 2 weeks without a match. Our defence was solid for almost all of the match, our passing at times was superb to watch and our attack was fast and menacing however we still are not clinical enough in front of the goal and we still stand still when defending ‘set pieces’. These two aspects of our game are the reasons why we are 3^rd in the league and not top. With 2 cup finals fast approaching, we need to address these frailties fast if we want to look back on this season proudly in seasons to come.