Challenge Shield at home to Walton Casuals

[benchsitter]

Next up for the reserves is a home fixture tonight against Walton Casuals, 7.45 ko. Having seen how hard the pitch was becoming last night for the Ryman Youth team, it will be interesting to see how the weather goes today as it may be like concrete by tonight

[benchsitter]

Not sure if top of the table Casuals thought they could roll up and just turn us over, but being an Arsenal fan I am familiar with the feeling of having lots of possession and nothing to show for it at the end of the game, which is how they must have felt last night. We've had a season of "nearly" getting the results our team efforts deserve and this was the night when it went right, even though we still managed to still concede a goal in the last minute again
We started better and quicker than them and after 25 mins we were rewarded with a goal when an Ian Messenger free kick was tapped in at the near post by Dan Jewell. This served to stir the visitors and after 35 mins they were awarded a soft penalty (after we had a clear one for ourselves dismissed) and that made it 1-1, which is how it stayed until half time.
The 2nd half saw the inevitable uplift in Casuals' performance and they had the majority of play throughout the half, and it may be a cliche, but if you don't take chances when they are there, you may regret them and that is what happened. They pressed us from the start with a high tempo, but after 57 mins they pushed too hard and we caught them with a counter attack straight through the middle and Jon Burch slotted home to make it 2-1.
Casuals continued to press and their frustrations were obvious by the number of free kicks they kept giving away and with time running out, after 87 mins Roo Grace split their defence with a good pass for Ryan George to run on and score to make it 3-1. With Casuals stunned by that goal, from the restart we regained possession and Jon Burch scored a terrific goal with a shot from the left of the penalty area to make it 4-1. Deep into added time Casuals were awarded a corner which Jordan saved low down at the near post but the ball was bundled into the net - looked a foul to me but not to the referee - 4-2 the final score.
A very good all round team effort that showed plenty of character against a good Casuals team that contained 3 first team regulars and hasn't lost in 20 league games. Won't single anyone out, but will say they were all good goals Well done!