12/12/2009

Dorset League Division 2

Dorchester Sports 2 Sturminster Marshall Res 4

The second of December's three away fixtures saw the reserves head west to take on Dorchester Sports who were flying high in 3rd place.

A few minor changes were made from last week's winning line up as Matt Jones and Steve Johnston returned to the team, which saw Ciaran return to the heart of the Stur defence and Love drop back to the bench after a solid performance last week.

Stur started brightly in difficult playing conditions, which was slippery under foot and extremely bobbly. Early pressure again led to an early advantage to the reserves. Jones picked up the ball midway inside the Dorchester half and was eventually brought down 25 yards from goal. Erkan won the argument to take the free kick, much to most people's disappointment, but the finish was class. Taking the wind into consideration, Erkan found the top left corner perfectly to put Stur one up.

Stur continued to battle well all over the pitch and again the pressure paid off. This time Dave picked out brother Steve on the right flank but his shot was saved. The ball fell to a Dorchester defender to clear off the line but Jones quickly closed him down and the attempted clearance was deflected in off him. 2 – 0.

It was clear Stur weren’t going to get much protection from the referee as several late challenges went unpunished and the Reserves knew they were in for a tough time.

Luke Geddes found himself unmarked in the box to tap in after Jones had an effort saved but the home linesman, who was extremely poor and blatantly trying to even up the game for his side flagged him offside, only after his players protested at him and the ball was in the net. The referee disallowed the goal.

The physical side to Dorchester’s game eventually paid off as they broke from midfield and coolly finished to get themselves back in the game.

Going into half time, Stur held a slender 2-1 advantage but knew they weren’t going to have it easy in the second half. A few bad tackles saw several Stur players carrying injuries and skipper Lambert had broke his nose after a collision with a Dorchester forward.

Love came on to replace Lambert 5 minutes into the second half as the influential captain was struggling to see straight.

Dorchester immediately drew level as Stur struggled to clear the ball in defence and a Dorchester forward fired home at the near post.

Luckily for Stur, the physical side of the game seemed to interest the home side more than going on to win the game and it was just a matter of time before Stur got the break they needed.

Jones broke into the Sports area and managed to avoid a desperate and high lunge before he was eventually brought down inside the box. Erkan stepped up and fired the penalty home off the post to put Stur 3-2 up.

With 10 minutes remaining Luke Geddes found some space on the right and his cross was turned in by a Dorchester defender who couldn’t clear it to give Stur some breathing space. This was to be his last contribution to the game as Luke and Tom made way for Logan and Jake.

The game ended 4-2 and the Reserves should be proud of themselves. They battled hard and thoroughly deserved the victory which now sees them extend their lead at the top of Division 2!!