Thrapston Town
3 v Kettering Generals
3
Thrapstons last home match of the season was an exciting one with controversial decisions for both teams - taking the edge of what had been a very good and hard fought game of football.
Thrapston started well and were soon 1 up when, for the second week running, Luke Stevens capitalized on defensive shortfalls and a goalkeeping error. Generals battled back hard and Thrapston struggled to retain any possession. Generals soon equalized and then went in front when the referee judged the ball had crossed the line following Thrapstons failure to clear a corner. Generals continued to pressurize the Thrapston goal and were to go 3 - 1 ahead when a neat turn was well finished.
The second half saw both teams start brightly and anything troubling the Thrapston defense was well dealt with by “Man of the Match” Matthew Watkin.
Thrapston made a number of changes and gradually began to fight their way back and with 6 minutes to go Jake Hankins pulled one back only to find the Linesman had flagged for offside (controversy No1) who or which player was offside we shall never know but this seemed to fire up the Thrapston players and within 2 minutes Luke Stevens had pulled the score back to 2 – 3. As we headed deep into injury time Luke Stevens picked the ball up in the box beat a couple of defenders and went down following a challenge from a defender (controversy No2) Penalty!!. This seemed to be a very harsh decision for Generals. However, the penalty was dispatched giving Luke his hat trick and a final score of Thrapston 3 – Kettering Generals 3.
Over the course of the season some decisions go for you, some against, in this game both teams had both, if the offside had stood would Thrapston have scored again I don’t know? But I know that it being disallowed raised their determination to get something out of the game, whether or not a penalty was a just reward ….??
Today’s result highlights just how much the team have matured and come on throughout the year, they are now to play for one another and will not give up, had this game been at the beginning of the season I have no doubt we would not have got the result we ended up with today. Well done boys.
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