Match Report - 8 February 2004

A draw was a fair result as the match swung from Headstone to Pitshanger and then could have gone either way at the end. Considering the amount of rain that has fallen recently, the pitch was very good, the only difficulty was the strong wind but both teams coped well with the conditions.

Headstone had a very good first half. Against a Pitshanger team that were third in the table having scored 16 goals in 4 matches, Headstone looked much the stronger team. Conor worked really hard and had 3 good shots on goal. Brett was a threat to Pitshanger down the left wing with several forceful runs and he also had Headstone's first chance of the match. He delivered several good curling corners but Headstone couldn't finish any of them.

Kushal opened the scoring for Headstone in the 15th minute powering the ball home from inside the area. It was his 5th goal in four matches since he switched to the B team. Rory then came on up front for Kushal and within 3 minutes he doubled the lead. Conor made a good run down the right hand side and crossed the ball for Rory to finish.

Headstone were in control of the match with Brett's speedy runs down the left and Rory battling for every ball up front. At the back Jordan Wright had little to do as Russell, Daniel and Ciaran kept Pitshanger at bay. However, as the half was ending Headstone let Pitshanger back into the game. Firstly Pitshanger went close when a shot hit the post then in injury time Headstone failed to clear the ball from the penalty area and they had an easy chance to shoot home. A disappointing end to a very good half for the visitors.

Worse was to follow. Two minutes into the second half Pitshanger raced through the defence to slide the ball past Jordan Wright for the equaliser. Pitshanger looked much more threatening as Headstone failed to pick up their midfield players' forward runs. Five minutes later Pitshanger attacked down the right and picked out one of their players unmarked inside the box. Jordan Wright had no chance with his shot.

It was a fine comeback by Pitshanger, 0-2 to 3-2 ahead. At this point Russell and Brett, who had come off at half time, came back on, Kushal went back up front and Rory went into midfield. Jordan Coleman and Ciaran came off. Despite the setback, Headstone continued to battle and created a number of chances. Kushal had 4 shots and Rory came close to an equaliser. Conor and Brett continued to play very well in midfield.

Seven minutes from the end Headstone got a well deserved equaliser thanks to a superb shot by Daniel. It was a repeat of his goal against Pitshanger earlier in the season. The ball came to him on the edge of the area from a corner and he thumped it powerfully into the corner. A few minutes later and he very nearly won the match with what would have been goal of the season. Standing in his own half on the edge of the centre circle the ball bounced nicely for him and he hit it high and goalwards. It flew over 40 yards. The keeper back peddling got his hands to the ball and pushed it up where it hit the cross bar and then he grabbed it.

It was a fitting end to an entertaining match with lots of good performances in the Headstone team. Rory was man of the match for a determined performance up front and in midfield which included his goal.