Opportunities not taken in a tight game against Bourne……
A fast paced game played by Bourne and the Hurricanes on
Sunday. With the shorter/wider pitch and knowing Bourne were a stronger
team (from our days back in NEH where we played them), we switched to
4-4-2 to provide more support in the midfield. Dale was still injured
from a dead leg received in a game yesterday, leaving the lads with a
single sub. Bourne struggled last week with injuries but were out in
force as a squad today.
As the game settled in,
Bourne showed they were quick on the break and keen to get their shots
away. Jake was up to the task, working his angles and making the early
saves. At the other end, Bourne’s keeper was quick off his line and
smothering the Finch through balls and claiming/clearing the Finch
corners and crosses. Our lads were working hard but making the job
harder at times by giving the ball away after doing all the work.
Ollie
broke the deadlock when Max to put him through 1-on-1 with the keeper.
The 1 goal lead didn’t last long unfortunately when Finch conceded a
penalty for a trip in the box, which was tucked away just out of reach
of Jake’s finger tips. The first half saw more chances for both teams
(Max hitting the upright was the closest and Ollie going through 1-on-1
with the keeper again) but neither team could hit the target or beat the
keeper.
The second half saw Finch kicking up hill
(but with the wind at their backs now). The Hurricanes were still
struggling to keep the ball, but were doing a good job of containing
Bourne and winning the ball back. Jacob hurt his knee and couldn’t
continue with 25 minutes to go.
Finch kept pressing
forwards with the ball and got into some good shooting positions on
several occasions but couldn’t make them count. Bourne were defending in
numbers. Bourne were awarded another penalty for another trip, which
was saved by Jake’s legs. Eventually the home team took the lead when
their fast striker was played through the position Jacob would normally
have held to create the 1-on-1 with Jake.
As the
clock started to run down, Finch legs were tiring and the concentration
was starting to go. This put them under a lot of pressure from Bourne,
but they still couldn’t capitalise on their advantage. In the final
kicks of the game, a Finch free kick was spilled by their keeper but he
did enough to put off the followup shot inside the 6 yd box.
So final score 2-1 to Bourne.
Well done all.
