afan lido 1-1 garden village

Ellis Harris with his fourth Reserve goal of the season gave us the lead after 62 minutes but Garden Village came back with an equaliser after 77 minutes to earn a draw. Garden Village have so far scored 61 goals and it was easy to see why as their front runners moved well both with and without the ball but today they lacked a cutting edge with Gareth Couch making a couple of quality saves to deny them.
We had an early free kick which Josh Cokeley played forward to Luke Borrelli in the box but Luke was closed down pretty quickly and was forced to play it back to Josh, he played the ball forward again but the move petered out. Village had their first shot on goal after 7 minutes but it was straight at Gareth Couch and he held it comfortably. Village were controlling play for long periods, they kept moving the ball well but they weren't able to create any openings. By contrast when we did win the ball back we seemed to return it to them for them to start again.
A Lido attack on 17 minutes highlighted this, we played the ball forward to Luke Borrelli but when he looked for support it was slow in coming and we lost the ball, Village played it forward into our box and a forward was booked presumably for diving. With 25 minutes gone we started to find our rhythm with Luke Borrelli again to the fore. Conor Harris then found Luke in the area, he lay the ball back for Simon Witheridge but the ball was intercepted and cleared. Conor Harris did well to make ground down the left and cross the ball in to Ellis Harris in the box but Ellis slipped at the vital moment and the chance was lost. We created a further opportunity just before half time with a free kick level with the edge of the area near the touchline,  Conor Harris played a great ball in and under pressure a defender did well to head clear. In the final move of the first half Dean Hudson played the ball through but it had just to much pace on it and the keeper beat Ellis Harris to it.
Gareth Couch made a fine save from 12 yards 3 minutes into the second half, holding a powerful shot and clearing it. From the clearance we were awarded a free kick 40 yards out in a central position. Remi Whitelock shot at goal, the ball only just clearing the crossbar. Village then had a series of corners as they upped the pressure, the first came after another fine save by Gareth Couch, we cleared the ball but it came straight back in with Shaun Morgan doing well to head the ball for a second corner. Again we cleared but Josh Cokeley conceded a third corner and from it Village should have scored. The ball was played across the box and from six yards they shot wide. Village continued to push forward and it seemed only a matter of time before they scored but on 62 minutes we took the lead. From a right wing throw in to the box the keeper failed to hold it and Ellis Harris fired in a right footed shot. We gained confidence from that and the ball was played forward to Luke Borrelli who beat the keeper to the ball and played it across the area but his cross was cleared. Again we played the ball forward to Ellis Harris who netted but unfortunately he was given offside.
Village continued to look dangerous and it seemed only a matter of time for their pressure to tell and after 77 minutes they finally did equalise. They attacked down the right and crossed the ball into the area, the ball was picked up on the far side of the area, the attacker cut in and beat a couple of defenders before shooting past Gareth Couch from 10 yards. Village now pushed forward looking for a second, Gareth Couch held a cross and cleared the ball, Dean Hudson picked up a loose ball and shot from 30 yards, their keeper fumbled the shot but no-one was far enough forward to benefit from it. Both sides pushed forward looking for a winner but neither side could create a clear cut opening to win the match.

Lido side:
Gareth Couch, Rob Cockings, Josh Cokeley, Shaun Morgan, Dean Hudson, James McEvoy, Remi Whitelock, Simon Witheridge, Ellis Harris, Luke Borrelli. Conor Harris.

Subs:
12  Corey Thomas for Simon Witheridge 65
14  Gary Isaac for Josh Cokeley 74
15 Chris Thornton for Remi Whitelock 74

Match Report by Peter Reynolds

 

Last updated 28 Mar 2010 06:39