Match Report - 22nd April 2007

Acton won the first half, Headstone edged the second but couldn’t add to Brett Swinton-Bland’s second half goal and the visitors finished their final game with all the points. For Headstone it was the second match in two days as they strive to play their numerous games in hand. It appeared to show in some of the players as the first half performance was rather sluggish.

Headstone were without top scorer Conor McBreen so lined up with just Brett up front and the intention of getting Kyle Giles-Brown and George Moriarty up to support as quick as possible. But during the first half Acton looked the sharper and though Headstone created some chances some of the players looked less up for the battle than their opponents. As a result there were too many loose balls that went unchallenged and possession given away too softly.

Headstone weren’t able to build from the back and resorted to launching long balls from the back which Acton weren’t troubled with. Brett, Kyle and George made a few breaks and Luis Meneses Zerpa had a couple of shots but the keeper wasn’t sufficiently threatened. At the other end Daniel Lynch pulled off a superb point blank save from a goal bound shot early in the match.

Acton took the lead in the 25th minute out of the blue with a very soft goal. The attack built from the left and when the ball was crossed Headstone’s defence hesitated and Acton knocked a looping ball goalwards. Daniel got his finger tips to it but couldn’t stop it dropping into the net.

Eight minutes later and Headstone faced a mountain to climb when Acton made it 0-2 with another goal from nothing. This time an Acton player was allowed to advance unchallenged through the Headstone midfield and his shot from 25 yards was superb and left Daniel well beaten. Unfortunately this was happening too much this half and Acton took full advantage.

At half time Headstone made one change with Fed Jaramillo replacing Jordan Wright. Fed took over Kyle’s attacking role and Kyle switched to the centre midfield. Fed looked busy from the start and wasn’t on long before he had a shot at goal. Thomas Green also had a high looping effort that went close. In the centre of Headstone’s defence Russell Butlin and Joe Jordan were both playing very well. Up front Brett had to work very hard in the lone striker role but showed a neat turn of pace and made good use of his strength to try and keep the Acton defenders at bay.

On 48 minutes Acton took a 0-3 lead and the game looked over. The goal came from a corner on the right which Headstone failed to clear. Acton worked a neat move and accurately stabbed the ball inside Daniel’s left hand post.

Headstone responded with a double substitution. Nicholas Furquim replaced Josh Street at left back and Jordan Coleman replaced George in left midfield. Nicholas was soon in action combining with Jordan to build moves down the left. On the right flank Fed linked up with Tom Wrigley who was involved far more this half. Though three goals down Headstone pressed Acton back and Fed had a couple of shots on goal before going just inches away from scoring.

In the 52nd minute Brett scored his third goal of the weekend. Nicholas set Jordan on his way down the left who fed Brett who used his strength effectively to edge out a defender and slip the ball past the keeper. The goal inspired Headstone and they proceeded to create a host of chances and keep Acton pinned back. Nicholas launched a high ball from the left deep into the box but no-one could finish as the keeper struggled to hold it. Russell and Luis were inches away from meeting a superb corner that sailed across the goal. Kyle also had a shot that went close.

As Headstone pushed forward to get back in the game Acton had a couple of opportunities but were thwarted by a tremendous diving save by Daniel.

In the end, despite a vastly improved second half performance, it was too much to recover and Acton won the match. Joe Jordan was man of the match for another consistent and controlled performance at the back. He was strong in the air and produced many important well timed tackles.