Match Reports
04/03/06
Canterbury 4 2-1 Men's 3rd XI
Roll the dice!!
Brighton needing some luck to rise the table rolled a double 1 when they wanted a double six to get past the ugly ogre that is Canterbury 4’s.
A couple of battle hardened legends joined the 3s for the last jaunt of the season in sunny Kent, (that should cheer Lees up a bit!) with College and “The Reaper” Reidy both stepping up to help shore up the defence.
Brighton were given a dream start and Alex Lees nabbed his first goal of the season after barely a minute had gone. A beautiful flowing movement was ended by Lees tapping the ball past the statuesque Canterbury goalie from nearly a whole yard out. Surely the keeper was as shocked as all of us were to see him so far up the pitch.
As the game settled down Canterbury piled on the pressure but the wiley boys in the back four were largely untroubled until disaster struck. A melee in the D saw a Canterbury striker smash the ball straight into Liam Cotter’s face leaving him with blood literally gushing from his nose. Nurse Tosh was quickly on the scene with words of comfort and skilfully shepherded him from the pitch. There was no way Liam could continue and with no substitutes Brighton would have to battle on with ten men for three-quarters of the match.
Canterbury were very well organised with their suprisingly capable midfield and passed the ball around to make the extra man tell. They equalised with a sharp finish from a couple of yards out after our hapless skipper showed his defensive prowess with his reverse stick stopping (“or slowing just enough”) skills.
At halftime Brighton recognised that they were going to have to step up the work rate but Canterbury took the lead very early in the second half to take the wind out of their sails. While the pressure continued throughout the second half Brighton’s defence and midfield worked tirelessly to keep Canerbury at bay and they rarely looked like scoring again. As the second half progressed the belief seemed to return to Brighton and chances began to come as they hit them on the break. Lone striker Davros was unlucky with a couple of reverse stick strikes one going only inches from the upright in the closing minutes.
However, it wasn’t to be and Brighton missed another opportunity to move up the table and remain marooned in 5th place and with in form league leaders Old Bordenians to entertain next week. You can’t help thinking though that if Brighton were given just one rub of the green or a decent roll of the dice their position in the table could be a whole lot better.
“Kent Cruiser” count for the day: a sad zero, but we have been treated to some wonderful suped up Corsas and Fiestas over the season.
“Fat girl crossing road in ill fitting white top that you can see her navel through”, another disappointing zero, but that maybe because we were missing a player who has a uncanny ability to spot them from a mile away. So thank you Kent for some truly unforgettable experiences we look forward to seeing your sights again next season.
P Morgan