Abbots entertained the current league leaders, Alexandra Park, at the MHG and were themselves entertained to a scintillating exhibition of football from the ‘Park’ who just managed to ease past Abbots by eight goals to one!!
In all the years of reporting on the Abbots boys (being the seasoned veteran that I am) I have never have had the pleasure to report a defeat of this magnitude as our previous worst defeat has only been by four goals. but, there were some positive points to come out of this tonking!
The sizeable crowd were witness to the performance of the season by Joshua who, particularly in the first half, was exceptional. A string of excellent saves kept the rampaging Park at bay, the most memorable of which was a splendid full stretch, fingertip save after the ball had been wickedly deflected and looked a cert for a goal until Joshua athletically dived to deflect the ball which was then cleared away by Will.
There were other flickers of hope which included a terrific long range shot from Sam which dramatically clipped the top of the bar when the keeper was clearly beaten. Another was a crisp move between Matthew and Andrew who found Evan in the box only to see his effort well smothered by the keeper.
Half time came and went and with it Abbots resolve to battle. Some heroic defending by the Abbots defenders was all in vain as Park played neat and intelligent football to cruise past Abbots and score another five to add to their first half tally. The highlight of the second half was a corker of a goal from Matthew who looked up from well out wide and sent a screaming shot over the keepers head to claim a classy goal which would have even graced Wembley stadium…. Great goal Matt!
In the aftermath of such slaughter one would hope to draw something positive, so here it is…… we only have to play them once more! Great isn’t it!! Seriously, what is done is done, the moral of the story is not to capitulate and give in! We now play at a level where every player needs to be and stay ‘switched on’ .
Well done to Joshua a great performance and at no fault for any of the goals. A tough lesson to learn ……. We know how other teams felt when we use to ‘tonk’ them.
Next week it’s Harvesters South in the Challenge Cup,
Man of the match: Joshua
The crowd: 27 - thank you (sorry, no refunds!).
Squad: Joshua, Matt, Will, Sam, Daniel, Andrew, Thomas, Liam, Alfie & Evan