Aston Park vs FTU Juniors
Oh yea of little faith... I told you it would all come good!
What a performance! From front to back, wing to wing every one of the Flint Town United players deserved this. First to every ball, not pulling out of tackles, winning second and third ball through determination, covering for each other, holding position, looking for and passing into space the whole team were GREAT!
The first quarter was one way traffic with Flint having a lot of possession and plenty of opportunities in front of goal. The Aston goalkeeper played exceptionally well to keep the score at nil-nil until near the end of the quarter when a long low drive bounced just in front of him and found its way under his outreaching hand and into the very corner of the net.
You could feel the relief on the sidelines and in the team, that for all that possession the lads were in front. But after the events of last week we knew one wasn't enough we should have been 3 or 4 up. In previous games just 1-0 up at the end of the first quarter we might have been worried but this time all the lads kept up the pressure and fought for everything. Getting a second extremely well worked goal that flowed from a solid controlled clearance in defence, up the wing and across the goal to be put in at the far post - possibly our best move of the season for attacking pace and thought!
Towards the end of the second quarter our first mistake, an Aston cross played low across the face of our goal that eluded both goal keeper and defenders was met with a weak clearance that was thumped into the back of our net by an advancing opponent to make it 2-1.
The sidelines were nervous. How would our sons respond? But again they showed we shouldn't have been worried. The communication at the back stayed high, the position and structure of the team stayed intact and their heads stayed up to make it 3-1 in the third quarter. The thumping tackles continued and the sheer physical desire not to lose the lead meant we controlled the midfield and, most tellingly the wings. I don't think I've seen wingers with so much determination to tackle back and defend and when they had the ball to run either past or, if necessary, through their opponents. A cracking free kick from Aston rattled our cross bar and it was as though it reminded Flint not to slacken off as the next five minutes saw us camped in the Aston half. But to Aston's enormous credit they never gave up. In the Aston team you could see the kind of spirited doggedness that we seem to manage for half a game at a time and they were never really out of it until the last quarter. They played with spirit and fairness and a they made it a very enjoyable game.
A little tiredness crept into the final quarter with both teams looking a little ragged positionally but it was clear which team wanted the win more. Again flint dominated posession and when they didn't have the ball, the defence remained well marshalled with lots of communication and the midfield covering back and sweeping when necessary. We didn't look like losing this one, and for once we didn't.
The icing on the cake was perhaps Flint's final goal. We've always been able to deliver corners into the box pretty well, but we score few from them, whereas defending corners does seem to make us nervous and we conceded too easily. But this time it was our turn to celebrate. A superb corner was met at speed by a towering header that bulged the back of the net before the Aston goalkeeper could even move.That made it 5-1 to us. Say it again just to make sure. 5-1 to US.
Its worth adding at this point how enjoyable it is to stand on the sidelines and watch this team play - win lose or draw we seem to have more fun than the oppositions parents. The Dad's - normally the more vocal and shouting helpful encouragement like "man at the back" or "get goalside" are being drowned out by the Mum's with equally useful suggestions like "kick it" and "c'mon....somebody!"... heaven help us when we have to explain the offside rule to the Mums next season!
A massive thank you to the Flint coaches, the parents, Aston Park team, but most of all our players for a thoroughly enjoyable and well deserved WIN!!!
