Walton’s stadium 4G pitch looked the part with the spectator stand and dug-outs. Great surface for playing football on, but a little unforgiving on the knees as it turned out. With Nathan, Aaron and Dan out we were down to just 12 for the game on a big pitch (missing 3 of our defensive players). Walton were in the Premier Elite last season and in the mix with the top teams.
The priority in the briefing was to keep the ball, to avoid chasing the game on the big astro pitch. Finch started well, with the first chance of the game going to Marcus’ left footed shot off the post. And Walton were on the back foot as Finch pressed hard up the pitch. Jack burst through with the ball and pulled it back for Cam to play Lewis C in, but the final shot was wide.
Walton won a free kick in a wide position, the ball floated in and bounced through the crowded box just inside the post. But Finch responded immediately with a crisp passing sequence from Ben through midfield, Jack picking out Cam for the equaliser. 1-1
Walton got a series of corners, and Finch couldn’t properly clear the ball, the home team pouncing on the chance to go 2-1 up. At the other end Luke worked hard to beat his man and cross the ball into Lewis C who couldn’t quite bundle the ball into the net. Jake was called into action at full stretch to parry away a shot across the goal and then another shot at the near post. Half time
The Hurricanes came out fired up after the half time talk, keeping the ball and moving it around more quickly. And their pressing was rewarded with Jacob setting up the shot for Cam to slam it home, levelling up the scores. 2-2
Finch were starting to tire and the passing quality wasn’t as sharp as it had been. Walton’s fresher legs was making the difference. Jake came for a high ball but couldn’t get the punch in ahead of the strikers header. 3-2 to Walton
But our lads weren’t beaten and kept working for the next goal. Walton went down to 10 men when the Sin Bin was deployed for dissent….Finch were pressing harder for the equaliser. A free kick from a push set Ben up to whip in a ball, Alfie’s header just wide of the target. Jacob worked his way through on goal to get a shot away, Walton’s keeper making the save. Jake was bundled into his own net by the striker as he jumped for a high ball, it wasn’t given as a foul. 4-2
As the clock ran down, the game was getting more scrappy with Walton fouling to disrupt Finch’s flow. Finch struggled to maintain possession with tired legs and from the pressure as they got more stretched across the pitch, but they kept chasing the 3rd goal. Jake was in action again, spreading himself wide to block a point blank shot. Walton got the final goal of the game, sliding it across the goal for the back post tap in. 5-2 final score
