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Sat 17th Oct 2009
League
Sponsored by Colin Sharman
TAFC First team 4-2 Royston Town
TAFC goals: Graham Hall, Anthony Fields, Ashley Addison, Mark Burfoot |
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A thoroughly entertaining game saw us take the spoils after falling 2 goals behind after only 18 minutes. The players took great delight in winning this game following the disappointing Herts Charity Shield semi-final result last season. Royston are having a very good season following promotion to the Premier Division and they have some speedy players whose running off the ball was excellent especially in the first half. We began the game with a few changes from last weeks win, Chris Salmon was out injured but his brother David was back and Dave Whicker started the game.
It was us who created the first chance within a minute of the kick off when a super cross from Andy Mullins, playing in his familiar forward position after a stint at right back the previous week, just evaded striker Mark Burfoot. Royston came straight back with Josh Bronti testing keeper Tom Vincent. Play was end to end with both keepers having to make saves and it was inevitable that this was not going to be a dull 0-0 game, and in the 14th minute Royston took the lead. We were defending on the edge of the area when a shot came in which evaded everyone before hitting the post. The first person to re-act was number 9 Ricky Young who shot across goal into the far corner. We were struggling to come to terms with going behind and just 4 minutes later it got worse when Royston extended their lead. A long diagonal ball found Josh Bronti in splendid isolation and he took full advantage of the opportunity by placing the ball into the same corner of the net as the first goal to put Royston 2-0 ahead. Just a minute later Bronti could have scored again, although he was well offside, fortunately he fired over the bar even though there was no whistle.
We were still creating chances but Royston keeper Jorden Gibson was making some great saves. We thought we had scored in the 24th minute but Mark Burfoot somehow hooked over from virtually under the bar. Chances came and went for us and the players were maybe thinking it was not going to be their day and they were getting frustrated. We needed a goal and Captain Graham Hall, leading by example, duly obliged. A free kick taken by David Whicker came into the danger area where Graham Hall was well placed to steer the ball into the net, making the score 2-1 in the 38th minute. It was just the tonic we needed with half-time approaching. Andy Mullins picked up a yellow card in the 40th minute following a late challenge and with just minutes to go to the interval striker Vinnie Iannone, who was having an excellent game, took an accidental blow to the face and had to go off, being replaced by Ashley Addison.
HT: TA 1 RT 2
The second half saw us come out with real determination and within 2 minutes of the re-start we equalised. Tony Fields stepped inside his marker and his cross aimed at Mark Burfoot evaded everyone and to our players and supporters delight the ball ended up in the back of the net to level the scores at 2-2. We started to create all the chances and Tony Fields was causing all sorts of problems down the left. Another shot from Tony flew off a defenders head forcing keeper Jorden Gibson into an acrobatic save. We had a good shout for handball in the penalty area but the referee waved play on. It was no surprise when we scored again as we were creating numerous scoring opportunities. Following another free kick from David Whicker n the 56th minute the ball bounced off a defender and Ashley Addison was first to re-act and coolly slot the ball home to put us into a 3-2 lead.
It wasn’t all one way, however we were defending much better this time and we were restricting the visitors to long shots. In the 58th minute Mark Burfoot nearly scored following good work by Andy Mullins, his spectacular volley flying over the bar. Andy Mullins also had an opportunity to score shortly after, his header just clearing the bar from a cross by Ashley Addison. In the 65th minute leading scorer Mark Burfoot grabbed our 4th goal. Andy Mullins cross into area fell to Ashley Addison who played the ball to David Whicker on the edge of the area, his shot was blocked but the ball fell to Burf who just does not miss these opportunities.
Royston’s play became fragmented, they were clearly taken aback by our fight back and Mark Burfoot was very unlucky to see his spectacular volley from 25 yards hit the post. In the 74th minute Royston brought on fresh legs with Tom Malins coming on for Ross Collins. Four minutes later we did likewise replacing Andy Mullins with Danny Gray. We were still creating chances but had to be alert for counter attacks as Royston were quick out of defence but their final telling pass failed to materialise which was a credit to our defending. With 5 minutes to go Matt Myatt was cautioned for a foul and soon afterwards Lewis Endacott followed him for dissent. After 3 minutes of added time the referee blew for full time giving us a fully deserved 4-2 win against excellent opponents, showing how well we can defend as well as attack.
FT: TA 4 RT 2
This was a terrific win and the players showed tremendous spirit, determination and skill to come back from a 2 goal deficit against an inform side that had won 6 of their 7 previous league games. This win moved us up to 5th in the table ahead of Royston on goal difference although they do have a game in hand. It also continues our recent run of 4 wins from our last 5 games but that will be tested on Saturday at Langford who are always difficult to beat on their own ground.
Teams:
TA: Tom Vincent, Dave Salmon, Rob Duncan, Graham Hall (Capt), Steve Smith, Matt Myatt, Andy Mullins (Danny Gray) 78, David Whicker, Mark Burfoot, Vinnie Iannone (Ashley Addison 44), Tony Fields. Subs not used: Dave Clark, Henry Thomas
RT: N/K
Goals:
TA: Graham Hall (38), Tony Field (47), Ashley Addison (56), Mark Burfoot (65)
RT: Ricky Young (14), Josh Bronti (18)
Crowd: 108
RT Paper: www.royston-crow.co.uk |
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Match day cheroot
Mulls brings out the best in their keeper
G pulls one back
Tony Field's cross bypasses everyone: 2-2
Almost goal of the season; Burf's chest trap and long shot hits the post
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