Report

Honours even in top of the table clash

It was another cold morning for the much awaited clash between Poulton and BJFF.  Last time round they shared the points by winning a game each so we knew it was going to be tough and with Poulton topping the table they wouldn't drop points easily.

The second game now took on a whole new level of importance.  Defeat would almost hand the league title to Poulton so a BJ win was a must if our own title ambitions were to be kept alive.

We lined up with Kai in goal, Henry and Zach at the back, Jake, Dan and Will in the centre and Ryan up front.  On the bench were Corey, Danny and Ben.

The first few minutes were evenly contested and both teams tried to retain possession.  The first decent chance fell to Poulton on 8 minutes when their striker had a good shot well saved by Kai.

3 minutes later and BJ's first chance fell to Dan after a neat pass from Henry.  Dan took aim and fired only to see his shot hit the bar.

Danny and Zachary were dominant at the back and the first half ended all square.

The second half started a bit livelier than the first with both teams willing to gamble a bit more.  5 minutes in and BJ took a deserved lead.  Ryan passed to Dan who hit a great shot towards goal but the keeper parried it out.  Luckily Will was on hand to stick in the rebound and BJ were on their way!

They say that you're at your most vulnerable when you've just scored and that proved to be true for us!  Within a minute of us taking the lead we found ourselves level again when Poulton broke down the left hand side and managed to poke the ball home past the oncoming Kai....1-1.

The next 10 minutes were well contested but most of the play was in the middle of the park with neither team really making much impression in the final third. 

With 3 minutes to go, Poulton won a free kick in a dangerous area.  The fan's looked on anxiously as the Poulton number 4 hit a ferocious shot towards our goal.  It looked to be sailing in but Kai met the ball with 2 hands and deflected it upwards before gathering safely.

From there we went on the attack with Kai passing to Henry who then released Dan.  Dan squared it to Jake who danced round 2 Poulton defenders before sliding it home from an impossible angle to give us the lead again.

The last 2 minutes were a nervy affair but we defended well and battled to keep hold of the lead and ensure the points were shared over the 2 games.

It was a good team performance with Kai making some excellent saves and Danny, Henry and Zach defending like their lives depended on it.  Ryan, Will and Dan never stopped working and Ben and Corey kept the Poulton defenders busy but it was Jake who took the role of honour with a great performance capped by a winning goal.....well done that Guy!