12/09/2009

Dorset League Division 2

Sturminster Marshall Res 2  Wyke Regis Social 1

Churchill Close hosted the only Division 2 fixture to take place today and Stur took full advantage of their nearest rival's lack of action and opened up a seven point lead at the top of the league.

The victory was much more comprehensive than the score suggests. The visiting keeper had one of those special days that keepers seem to have occasionally and his side had him to thank for the fact that they were still close enough to make the home side nervous when they netted a penalty to pull the score back to 2-1 with five minutes remaining.

Stur hit the ground running straight from the kick off. There was certainly no sign of rustiness after the long weather enforced lay off and the visitors struggled to get anywhere near the football for ten minutes. It looked to be only a question of time before the home side took the lead and a smashing five or six pass move took the ball from one end of the pitch to the other and Ryan Hall tripled his lifetime goal tally when he got on the end of the move and scored his third of the season with a smart finish from 15 yards.

The game really should have been put to bed before half time, but a combination of super goalkeeping and profligate finishing prevented the home side from adding to their total.

HT: 1-0

The second half carried on in the same vein. If anything the visiting keeper was in even better form and Tom Rudd in particular was left shaking his head in disbelief when the Yashinesque*  custodian somehow tipped his goal bound shot around the post. The resulting corner was met with a firm header from Luke Geddes but again the keeper was equal to the task and tipped the ball over the bar.

The second goal eventually came on the hour when a free kick was swung into the box and Jack Geddes stabbed home from close range.

The visitors had shown very little as an attacking force, but Stur keeper Andy Talbot produced a super save when he came off his line and took the ball off the toes of a Wyke forward when he was clean through on goal. The importance of that saved was emphasised when another breakaway saw the visitors gain a penalty which was converted to make the last five minutes a rather nervous time for the league leaders. They held out comfortably enough, and played out the remaining time in the visitors half to take a well deserved three points.

* For those of you who were not around in the 60s, Lev Yashin was quite simply the greatest goalkeeper ever to have pulled on a pair of gloves