 |  Loxwood 2 v 0 Dorking Wanderers (Red) Saturday, 10th April 2021 Squad : Fletcher, Hamish. Harry B, Chris, Kinley, Charlie D, Charlie C, Nathan, Alex, Will, Declan, Liam, Ethan, Tom Goals : Hamish (2) Loxwood picked up from their excellent pre-lockdown form with a solid home win against Dorking Wanderers. Following a minute's silence pre-match following the sad death of Prince Phillip, impeccably observed by both sides, the match kicked off and almost immediately Dorking were through with only a great save from Kinley stopping Dorking taking an early lead. That was to be Dorking's best opportunity and so marked a pivotal and important moment in the game. The whites started to grow into the game after that with Chris, playing in an unfamiliar striker's role, firing just wide after a through ball from Nathan, and then just missing the target after a nice pass from Tom. Loxwood continued to threaten, playing at a high tempo, and were looking the more likely of the two sides to score, and midway through the first half took the lead after Chris challenged the keeper from a cross and the ball fell to Hamish who swept home with a nice finish. The Magpies finished the half by stringing some good passes together and from a nice move with Tom and Fletch, Alex just missed the target. So the second half started with Loxwood in front, and they continued to dominate with any chances from the opposition being smothered out by the strong centre back pairing of Harry and Declan, Upfront the whites continued to look dangerous and Tom nearly doubled the lead, firing just wide after some lovely one touch play from Chris, Will and Fletch. Into the last quarter and the game was starting to get stretched. From an excellent corner from Tom, the ball 'Ping ponged' in the penalty box with strikes from Liam, Will and Harry all being blocked. Directly from this clearance Dorking's midfield dangerman brought the ball 50 yards all the way up the pitch only to be foiled by a fantastic saving tackle from Declan. And then from this clearance, the ball went back the other way and the Magpies went 2-0 up after Hamish converted with a great left foot finish after a superb cross from Tom from the right. The opposition players' heads went down a little bit from this 'sickener' of a second goal, and it was only Loxwood who had opportunities to score again, with Liam's header striking the post from a Fletch corner, and Fletch himself having a strike just deflected wide after great chase and lay-off from Nathan. All in all a very satisfactory morning's work for the magpies and it was great to be able to continue the momentum from pre-lockdown. This was a great team performance with everyone making a contribution. A special shout-out to Hamish who had his best game of the season and a brace of goals too!! But the coaches man of the match this week goes to Declan, his attitude was great, tacking immense and his sense of when to play out or to just clear his lines spot on, and he didn't put a foot wrong through the whole game. Well done sir!! |
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