Sunday 20th September, A beautiful day (may be a little hot) with a perfect pitch (possibly a bit dry) and most of the lads (so no team photo). Unfortunately Harrington is still recovering from Tonsilitis so had to drop out this morning.
Lots of focus and engagement from the lads in the warm up and team talk. The lads know the formation and we have been working on pressing and releasing the ball under pressure. And welcome to Joe and Luke who had never been to FInch’s fantastic pitches before.
Rushmoor were clearly out for revenge after the 2-0 loss last week in the pre-season friendly. And it showed as Rushmoor were pressing harder and looked a serious threat. They were awarded a series of corners which kept our lads on their toes. But the Hurricanes started to settle into the game they were able to apply their own pressure, Ben hitting the net but was just off side when Cam played him through into the penalty box.
Rushmoor kept going and Jake was at full stretch to parry away a long range shot which wasn’t closed down quick enough. Finch forward pressing from Ben got the steal from a goal kick but could only get a corner from the opportunity. Lewis C came together with a Rushmoor player, who unfortunately had to come off the pitch with a wrist injury (Frimley A&E have confirmed its broken).
It was a hot day and tempers were bubbling, a Rushmoor player got sin-binned for 10 minutes. With a man down, Finch were on the attack. Cam shot going wide, perfect crosses from Dan and Jacob into the danger zone but couldn’t be finished, Lewis B long range shot our the cross bar and Joe’s flick off a Lewis corner just missing the top corner. Some careless passing from Finch was making it hard to capitalise on the man advantage.
But Rushmoor were still dangerous on the break and a hospital pass from Finch just outside Rushmoor’s penalty box setup a fast paced chase towards Finch’s goal, the striker squeezing the ball under Aaron’s sliding lunge and Jake’s outstretched leg. 1-0 to Rushmoor just on the half time whistle and Aaron picked up a twisted ankle in the process which took him out of the game.
Half time brief was basically “can’t fault work rate but got to be more smart with the ball”. Plus a few jelly babies to top up the sugar levels!!
And then Hurricanes stepped it up a level….they shortened their passing game and started to move the ball across the park quickly around Rushmoor. Jack burst through chasing a Lewis B through-ball, but couldn’t quite beat their keeper to the ball. A foul on Cam in a wide left position gave Ben the right angle to pick out Luke on the back post, first attempt off the post but some quick footwork from Luke scrambled in the equaliser. Luke was skilling their left back and pinging in the ball into the box multiple times….Jack headed one of them which beat the keeper but hit the upright.
As both teams tired in the heat there were more chances for both teams. Rushmoor came close with some long ranged shots, but couldn’t hit the target. Ben’s long range shot was initially blocked and the ball was stabbed away before his followup shot could be taken. Jake smothered a point blank shot when a missed clearance landed at Rushmoor’s striker’s feet in front of Jake. A bit like last week’s penalty save, this was a key moment in the game.
Finch were on top of the game now, winning it back quickly by overloading Rushmoor across the pitch. Lewis C and Alfie couldn’t quite get over the top of the corners to bag the winner. It was Joe’s lifted delivery to Cam at the back post to chest the ball home which got the winner. 2-1 final score!!
