Report

Red Star took to their first game in Division Two and were a taught a harsh lesson in taking chances as they succumbed to a 4-1 defeat to Futera FC. The game was a tense affair at the start with both teams struggling to regain possession due to a greasy surface and grass more suited to a National Trust conservation site than to football. Both sides attacked back and forth with a few decent chances spurned. It was to be Futera who took the lead from a set piece when a long free kick in was not dealt with and Ryan Northwood outjumped Junior George to head into the top corner. The lead was doubled before half time when Renan Ramos made a good run from the wing past Duhaj Zaman and fed in Pat Daley, who showed great composure to place the ball home past Gareth Fear.

Red Star needed to get back into the game and started the 2^nd half brightly. They pulled one back a few minutes into the half. Gareth Fear’s long ball found Luke Potter out wide who fed a ball inside into Dean Ashton who skipped past a sliding tackle and played a reverse pass into Mickey Brunton who put his shot in under Sergio Taylor. This should have been a catalyst for Red Star, however just a 7 minutes later the gap was once more two goals. Gareth Fear was caught out by an unlucky bounce from a free kick and spilled the ball into the path of Ramos who just had to tap home. With 20 minutes left a poor attempt at the offside trap saw Stu Henman break through and Futera once again showed calmness under pressure to make it 4-1. They were reduced to ten men towards the end when Northwood was sent off for a 2^nd yellow card when he mistimed a tackle in the wet conditions but Futera saw the game out to pick up a deserved win.