Bourne Town Juniors 2 v Long Bennington JFC 2

Fourth league match of the season and proved to be another tough one.

1st Quarter:
Captain Hawkins won the toss and kicked off. Bourne battled from the start and put Long Bennington under pressure. A great interception from Allan and pass found Asplin who took it well and shot past the goalkeeper to put Bourne one up. Long Bennington were rattled, Bourne continued the pressure with Hawkins putting Asplin through again but this time he hit the side netting. Curtis in midfield worked hard and other interception and pass found Stevens who’s shot went wide. Morgan-kay, such a strong influence in defence intercepted and fed a ball through to Asplin, who did a one-two with Stevens and again his shot was saved. Long Bennington started to settle and get into the game with a couple of counter attacks. Morgan-key defended well with 5 headers one after another. Hawkins covered and Cia and Allan supported. Marking was excellent and Bourne had the game sown up. Long Bennington had a good chance at the end where they broke through the Bourne defence but Bevan was alert and made a great save. The quarter ended 1: 0 to Bourne.


2nd Quarter:
On came Fell, Goodson and Colam. Long Bennington started the brightest and took the game to Bourne. Bourne defence looked comfortable and marking was tight. However Long Bennington started to win balls in the middle of the field, they were quicker and tougher on the ball. Bennington pushed for goal and had a few near misses. Bevan was called into action to make a number of saves. Bourne countered but there was no direction. Colam made some long runs but the final ball was not there. Stevens made some interceptions but his shots were saved. Cai, Goodson, Morgan-Kay and Fell worked hard this quarter. There was a great run from Colam but before he had a chance for a shot he was shoved over. Penalty, but the ref did not give it. Fell made some wonderful clearances, Morgan-kay made important interceptions. Goodson made some strong runs. But Bennington dominated for long spells. The quarter ended 1:0 to Bourne.

3rd Quarter:
The teams switched ends and on came Hawkins, Allan and Asplin. Bourne regrouped and started well, but Bennington wanted an equaliser. Marking got slacker in the middle and Bourne allowed Bennington to run at them. Some great interceptions from Fell, Allan, Hawkins and Goodson. But Bourne did look uncomfortable. Balls were going forward and both Colam and Asplin had shots but they either went wide or the keeper saved them. Bennington held them out and it was pretty much stalemate The quarter finished 1:0.



4th Quarter:
Morgan-kay, Curtis and Stevens returned. Bennington came straight at Bourne, but the Bourne defence held out. Bourne marked well but when a Bennington player lost his marker, Bourne was caught ball watching. Bennington were through one on one with the keeper, but this time Bevan could not save Bourne. Bennington equalised. Bourne were shocked and there was more to come. Bennington took advantage of Bourne’s confusing and again got straight into the attack. A clearance was intercepted and the midfield were caught out of position. Bourne’s defence were out numbered and slick passing produced another one on one with the keeper. Beven saved but the ball hit the attacker and rebounded into the Bourne goal. Bourne were now 2:1 down with 10 minutes to go. An injury to Allan saw him leave the field, Goodson came on. Then another injury to Morgan-kay, but he bravely played on. Bourne settled and tried to play football, a good pass found Stevens who turned his marker and coolly finished to equalise. Bennington were rattled and Bourne started to believe a win was possible. Attack after attack but the ball would not go in. Bourne had 4 corners in the last 5 minutes, but could not get anything from it. Some last ditch defending from Bennington kept the score at 2:2. Goodson, Stevens, Hawkins and Curtis all had shots but it was not to be. Bourne had drawn 2:2.

Managers comments:
It was a tough game, Bennington are a very physic team and battled for the points. Bourne should have taken advantage of the early pressure in the first quarter. There was some great passing and team work. It’s a real shame that a few lapses in concentration cost us a win today. It’s a new system we are playing and we need to keep our concentration in the big games. The boys showed great character to come back from 2:1 down, when the game did look lost. The team must continue to work hard for each other and play good football.