Timber Ridge Reserve must be a name harking back to white settlement as there was hardly a tree to be seen. An icy wind was blowing across the ground with rain and hail threatening. It was a good day to be inside, however with no rain and brief moments of sunshine there was “a window of opportunity” to get this early game out the way before the heavens opened. Rovers started with Luke in goals, Chris sweeping, James and Daniel as twin Central Defenders, Anthony & Petar at Right and Left wing backs respectively, Paul F, Michael & Connor in the midfield, and Ricky & Matt up forward. Lucas, Andrew & Johnny were on the pine. Several were out sick.
The game started with both teams having an equal share of the ball but chains of passes were not evident as the wind kept play congested on the small ground and turnovers were the order of the day. Rovers started to press forwards and after a few attempts on goal, Anthony was pushed in the back, inside the penalty area. Ricky stepped up to calmly put away a winner from the spot into the very right corner of the goal.
Manningham were getting numbers behind the ball then rushing forwards creating several chances as our marking was loose. Luke made a couple of good saves as the Hams looked for the equalizer. Eventually the Hams put in a good through ball to expose our sweeper’s right side, the forward got around Chris, then shot into the left of the goal leaving Luke stranded. Play oscillated between the halves with neither team in control as passes went astray with combination of a bouncing ball and strong wind. Finally just before half time Connor ran onto a good pass and his shot was deftly saved by the keeper, the rebound fell kindly for Anthony, whose control and shot was miraculously saved again by the keeper.
We were all wondering how, as the whistle blew for half-time.
Half-time score: Manningham 1 : Rovers 1
In the second half Rovers were kicking down-hill but into the wind so there was no real advantage. Manningham continued to press and their midfield structure gave our defense several headaches as a lack of talking and always being second to the ball provided them a few chances that were well neutralized by Luke who put in a game saving second half. Rovers general field play improved as the foot skills were more precise and passes found their mark. Rovers had more golden chances to score again but poor technique when shooting for goal ruined our chances. Connor had a shot that went directly to the keeper, Petar beat 2 with good play in the left corner, then ran at the keeper only to see the ball sail over the bar. Michael had 2 shots on goal that could have been game breakers but both went very high. Johnny made his presence felt and opened up the forward area but did not pass off to advantage and the chances just went begging.
Luke really put his body on the line to pull off a couple of fine saves as Manningham also had their chances but failed to capitalize.
The Ref’s final whistle blew as the first installment of rain and hail swept across the ground. It was a frustrating game of missed chances as our “window of opportunity “ had closed for the day. Thank goodness it was not a 3.15pm start as the weather really closed in for the rest of the day.
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