After the half term break and a good week of training under their belts both Football Academy sides went into their respective matches looking to continue their good start to the season. Both teams were going to be tested with the 1st XI at a very strong City College and the 2nd XI traveling up to Uxbridge.
The 1st XI started their game well, but were shaken when going 1-0 down very early on. A long through ball was not cut out and this led to the powerful number 9 rounding keeper Kieron Gillard and passing the ball into an empty net. 1-0. In the past Worthing have been guilty of getting frustrated after going behind, however this was certainly not the case in today’s encounter. Worthing took the game to their supposed more illustrious opponents and had more of the possession and arguably outplayed City College. The short, sharp interchanging of passing was a delight to see and this led to a number of chances. Luke Jearum, Paul Jackson, Alex Staines and Ben Standing all had chances to level the scores. It wasn’t too long however before the scores were level. Paul Jackson, who had been a late call up, continued his excellent hot streak in front of goal by coolly finishing under the advancing home goalkeeper. 1-1. That was how the score stayed until half time and this represented the very even nature to this match up.
Going into the second half Worthing knew that they needed to keep up the attitude and work rate to ensure a positive result. The home side were obviously wounded by the visitors positive first half performance and they came out fighting. However the defence were standing strong with Gillard making a couple of good saves that bounced right in front of him. Andy Heward, Jack Boxall, George Dowell and Ali Giammattei were disciplined enough to keep the home side at bay and be mature enough to play forward passes to begin Worthing attacks. Disaster struck midway through the second half though when a long ball was again not cleared and it was the number 9 yet again who took full advantage. 2-1.
Again Worthing showed excellent team spirit and attitude to continue to play passing football with only the final pass eluding them. The introduction of Sam Mannings definitely had an impact and Alex Staines had one of the better chances to equalize. However it wasn’t to be but the lads need to hold their heads high and be proud of their efforts and the way they conducted themselves against one of the teams who will be challenging for the ECFA league title this season.
Meanwhile the 2nd XI were extending their unbeaten run to 5 games with a 5-2 victory over Uxbridge. Goals came from Tomas Nemeth, Zaki Rahman, Thom Taylor, Phil Charman and the returning Ezio D’Ercole. Coach Danny Cullip was pleased with the victory, however he felt that the performance was not quite up with the standards that the lads have been setting recently. However if you can get a team who wins when playing not at their best, that can only be a positive and shows signs of a good team.
Well done to all involved and good luck to those playing Friday in the ESFA National Cup against East Berkshire.
Cheers,
Hallsy
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