South 1s have stuttered a few times since Christmas and after a decent win last week, hit another bump in the road against the 2s. The match started at a decent pace with all 22 players clearly looking forward to the challenge, the sides exchanged brief periods of possession and had a short corner each before the game’s opening goal, frustratingly, it went to the 2s. The 1s should have marked a lot tighter during the build-up and perhaps showed a bit of complacency in their final line of defence but Barton still had a lot to do and rounded his man and Steve Parker in goal with great composure.

The 1s responded well to going behind and began to show a significant threat going forwards, particularly down the right channel. Some sloppy tackling from the 2s in their 25 allowed the pressure to be increased through a series of short corners, one of which was expertly dispatched by Dave Aston with a bullet drag flick right into the top corner, Shahbaz’s full length dive only serving to make Aston’s effort look even more spectacular.

The 1s continued to press forward and would have taken the lead after a goalmouth scramble had it not been for a slightly premature whistle from the umpire. From the resulting short corner, Jon Hawkes tried his hand at the flick routine but his average effort was well saved by Shahbaz.

The second half was played in much the same vein with the 1s having the lion’s share of the ball but struggling to break down the stubborn 2s defence who got back in numbers and worked very hard to close their men down. Eventually the 1s regained their lead but only through another short corner routine. This time the ball wasn’t stopped as intended and the advantage would have been lost had Aston not had the guile and skill to move the ball past the first runner and then unleash an unstoppable reverse stick shot that scorched past defenders and keeper alike before rewarding Aston with that beautiful ‘double thud’ sound as it smashed into the side board and then immediately on the back board. Aston’s celebration was as cool as the finish, arrogantly flicking up his collar and raising his arms in the air, Cantona style, as his jubilant teammates admiringly congratulated him.

Despite pressing forward for much of the remainder of the game the 1s didn’t look like scoring again but as the ball was being kept in the attacking third it also looked unlikely that they would concede. How wrong they were! With 5 minutes to go the 2s launched a fast break that was initially rebuffed however, their battling spirit shone through and the first XI back four didn’t react quickly enough to the second ball allowing Dom Nelson to pounce like a cat and slot the ball past Parker.

With only a few minutes remaining, the game was up! The 1s hadn’t threatened their opponent’s goal from open play in the first 65 minutes so were unlikely to do so as the game fizzled out.

The 2s fully deserved the point for their hard work but if the 1s had been able to pass the ball better and breach their opponents D, the game could have been won at half time.