Sunday's game was a top of the table clash with our nearest rivals in the division, Shake-Shake. We took the lead three times, but in the end had to settle for a draw after a closely fought contest that we could have won. There were some breathtakingly bad challenges from the otherwise skilful Shake-Shake team - the number of two-footed challenges on the slick surface might merit a new name of Break-Break. Also notable was the number of missed chances: has Bardot's golden boot lost its sheen?
Heavy rain overnight and during the game produced some interesting movement of the ball off the surface. There was a cautious opening phase after Bardot once again attempted to score from the half-way line after the kick-off.
Shake-Shake are strong in the centre and our chances were most likely to come from the wings. We took the lead when Pete Bradley played the ball down the right side to Ivan. He took one touch to get past the full-back and delivered a low cross to the top of the penalty box. Andy turned on an uncharacteristic burst of speed to meet the cross and hit a sweet first-time shot high into the left side of the goal.
Shake-Shake levelled the scores with a pinball goal. Tim Rosa blocked a powerful shot from the edge of the box, but the ball cannoned back to the edge for another attempt which curled away from the diving Mike and hit the right post. The rebound skidded across the face of the goal and was hit in again from 8 yards, and although Mike had scrambled across and managed to parry the shot, it crept inside the left post.
Our second came from Andy's excellent free-kick from the left that landed right in the middle of the penalty area. Pete Bradley met it first-time and (his own words) it could have gone anywhere, but it bulged out the back of the net to restore our lead.
Within a couple of minutes Shake-Shake had tied up the scores again. Their left-side midfielder turned inside Victor and hit a low cross five yards out from goal where two attackers were queueing up for the simplest of knock-ins. For most of the rest of the half we lost our way, punting long balls forward in the hope of finding Bardot. We gave the Shake-Shake midfield too much time and our defence was under almost continuous pressure.
We had a good shout for a penalty turned down when Pete Bradley jumped to chest down a cross from the right. He landed on his back after one of the defenders ran through him, but the ref waved play on.
We started the second half in better shape and managed to dominate the first 20 minutes, when we could have (and probably should have) scored two or three more.
After some confusion between a defender and the 'keeper Bardot stabbed in a close-range shot that hit the left post. Pap drove the ball back across goal but it came so fast that Bardot couldn't make good contact and turned it wide. Later, Samuel collected the ball on the the left side of the box and managed to draw the 'keeper, who'd advanced to close him down. Sam managed to lure the goalie outside the box, turned inside him and delivered a cross to the far post, but Bardot's header hit the side-netting. Then Bardot managed to get in behind the defence on the right but dragged his shot wide of the left post.
We regained the lead about 25 minutes into the half. Andy played a lovely pass down the left channel for Tim Todreas, who sprinted onto the pass in the box but was chopped down. The referee had no hesitation in giving the penalty this time, and Andy placed it high to the keeper's left.
Shake-Shake levelled again with about 10 minutes left. A long cross-field pass from the right side of their midfield was hit about 15 yards out on the volley by the running forward coming in from the left. The strike wasn't particularly good but it wrong-footed Mike and the rest of the defence and the ball trickled inside the left post.
This was a very good game of football, the two teams displaying contrasting styles. Shake-Shake's passing game yielded precious few real chances, but they took those that they got. We created many more scoring opportunities than in the first game of the season, but weren't anything as ruthless in our execution.
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