Burton Youth 2 - Thrapston Town Blue 1
“If we had no winter, the spring would
not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity,
prosperity would not be so welcome” Anne Bradstreet
(1612 - 1672),
With the lights, tinsel, and six foot singing Santas safely
stored for another year, it was time to return to the serious
stuff of league action. With no cup to distract us from our
ambitions this weekend, would we, we wondered, come out fighting
like an Exeter, or embarrassingly like the Manks in the Theatre
of Screams yesterday (oh how we laughed!!!).
Without any new signings yet in the January transfer window,
the Thrapston squad was pared to the bone for this game, with
injury, illness, and alternative plans giving the side only
six 100% fit players, with the others dosed up or patched
up, and willing to play through the pain barrier for the cause.
Take this, and the fact that as a result players were required
to play out of position, and the signs were indeed ominous.
Nil desperandum, ne cede malis! Let us proceed in hope.
Conditions had eased overnight, and the strong winds abated
enough to allow some football to be played. Thrapston changed
ends at the toss up and played with the slope and wind in
the first half. All of Thrapston knew they must gain an advantage
in the first half. What a half: tough tackling, frantic work
rate, effort and no little skill were displayed as battle
was joined.
The new defensive pairing of Gallagher and Gardener were
immense at the back, and the midfield tried to link play with
some neat passing interchanges. A good move, involving Matthew
King, and Ben Robinson saw Tom Alsop released one on one with
the last defender. He rounded him, took the ball around the
advancing keeper and squared the ball for Harvey Chandler
Abbott to notch his third goal of the campaign.
Could Thrapston hold their lead? We did not wait long for
the answer, as some understandable defensive naivety, allowed
Burton to have 2 spare men in the Thrapston box and from there
the equaliser was inevitable, One, one.
In the second half, Thrapston did have chances to score,
but in truth were under the cosh for much of the half. But
they stood firm and defended with resilience and alacrity.
With 2 minutes to go, a hopeful punt forward, eluded Alex
Vitue in the Thrapston goal, to give Burton the lead. This
was unjust in the extreme, as Vitue had risen from his sick
bed to play, in response to the Thrapston player shortage,
and deserved better luck in return for his commitment.
And so that’s how it ended. Thrapston must now put
things right next week against the other Burton team, in order
to halt something of a slide in terms of results, but not
in terms of performances. Will the manager give the players
who rallied to the cause today the opportunity to get the
result next week? I think he might.
There are some defeats more triumphant than victories. Michel
de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)
Final score Thrapston Town Blue one, Burton Youth two.
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