Thrapston Town Blues 6 - Thrapston Town Yellows
1
When the fixtures were published in the summer, this was
the one everyone looked out for – the two Thrapston
teams going head to head for the first time this campaign.
Derby day!
Memories of famous derbies down the years were evoked prior
to the match – Rush in the all Merseyside cup final,
Goater earning the Mancunian bragging rights, Larsson so many
times in Old Firm games, Wright in North London, Mancini in
Rome and Van Basten in Milan. This is the stuff of which football
legend is made, and the talk in the town has been of little
else all week. Who would be the heroes today we wondered as
we made our way to the ground, buoyed by the excitement and
the extra hour in bed.
The Blues entered the game in a better run of form, but as
history tells us, form counts for nothing in derby matches,
and what matters more is desire and determination –
who we wondered would emerge to take this encounter by the
scruff of its neck. Also, questions remained about how the
Blues would come back from a week away, when their coaches
went on international duty.
The game started in predictable fashion: lots of battling,
but little fluidity, as both sides struggled to assert any
authority on the game. Few chances were created in the opening
quarter of the match, but an ill timed yellow challenge just
outside the box presented the Blues with a free kick. Up stepped
Tom Alsop to whip the ball over a two man wall and past the
keeper, for a one, nil lead.
The Yellows were battling hard, particularly Lewis Burton
and Connor Morson in Midfield, tenaciously getting first to
any 50:50 balls and putting the Blues off their stride. They
could however do little about the Blues second: battling in
midfield produced a loose ball 20 yards from goal. Liam Toon,
playing his best game of the season, before getting injured,
laid the ball inside where Alsop took a touch, looked up and
planted the ball into the top corner – pure Totti!
The Blues pressed forward again and got a third following
a ricochet in the box – O.G. and Alsop completed his
third hat-trick in successive matches with a tap in just before
half time.
The second half started very brightly indeed for the Yellows,
with Luke Rivett, who was a danger throughout, finishing off
a well crafted move to reduce the deficit. With confidence
renewed, the Yellows pressed, and caused panic in the Blue
defence, and were unlucky not to get more reward for their
efforts, as the Blues manager made frantic substitutions in
an attempt to shore up his defence. Man of the Match for the
Blues, Jordan Bateman however remained resolute and kept the
yellows at bay.
But the blues weathered the storm, and forced some good saves
from Michael McConnell in the Yellow goal, before Chris Gardener
made it 5, with the best worked move of the match. Alsop got
his fourth and the Blues sixth as the match drifted towards
a close.
This match saw again the value of a proven goal scorer for
the Blues, but if they can create more chances, the Yellows
look like they have one as well, in Luke Rivett. The Blues
while perhaps technically better as a unit can learn a lot
from the attitude of the yellows in battling hard and wanting
to compete for every ball. Until the next time……
Final Score, the Blues 6, the Yellows 1
|
