It was in awful blustery conditions that the Gold team ran out, already severely depleted in strength through half-term holidays, illnesses and knocks. Added to that an accident in the warm-up causing the withdrawal of another player, it was obvious we were facing an uphill task against a Castle Rise team full of vim and vigour. Sure enough, they came straight at us and pinned us back for the first 10 minutes, Luke, James, Harry C and Josh really had to be at the top of their game to keep a clean sheet. Sam claimed the goal area as his own and despute a few scares. Josh and Jack linked well and sent the ball to the wings as planned, where Harry R and Lucaas were waiting to drag play upfield. Tom had tussle after hard tussle to keep the ball going forward and then he slotted a pass to debutant Thomas, whose specualtive shot caught the wind and drifted by a surprised Castle Rise keeper to keep up Gold's record of debutants scoring in their first game. Castle Rise were very delated by that and we kept control of the game as Jack deflected all of their midfield attacks, ably assisted by Tom and Josh until half-time.
The second half started in the same vein, this time with the wind behind Castle Rise, and they tried to rush a quick attack, which Josh nearly single-handedly repelled. The play stayed around the centre circle for some time, with each side cancelling out the other. Finally, Lucaas took a high ball down in his own half
dribbled his way around the Castle Rise team as Harry R got into the perfect position to convert the slotted pass, giving the goalkeeper no chance. 2-nil up. against a hard wind, meant Gold were tempted to slow the game down and rest between plays. Castle Rise had almost given up as we were still in control. However, they put in some tactical changes as did we (Owen on as right-back, James switching to the left, with Harry ready to replace an injured Luke or Lucaas). They pushed hard and very fast, resulting in 3 consecutive corners, which we somehow failed to defend at all. It was obvious we were letting the balls through too easily and it wasn't a surprise when the ball clipped James' foot and spun high over Sam's head. This rousted Castle Rise and as we tired, they ran onto us, bypassing our midfield and offside traps, and even despite Liam and Thomas coming back to defend as the minutes ticked by, As the last minute approached, their striker drifted wide and took his chance. His shot thundered by our static defence, across Sam's chest and straight in the corner. It shook us up, and a few changes, meant we then played out the last few seconds with 11 men behind the ball, although Harry R, Josh, Tom and Liam did try a final attack just as the whistle went.
Castle Rise expected an easy touch but were surprised at our resilience. It was not so much a case of losing a 2-0 lead as gaining a point against a very determined team. We're still unbeaten at home!
Man of The Match: Lucaas-his wing-work and runs in this new formation kept us in the game.
My thanks for the superb support from the parents, our sponsors and Raunds Manor. Also to James for his very fair refereeing and Arden for running the line.
Bring on Boro Alliance next week!
