A 3-2 win for the Reserves the first of the season at Garden Village. They led 3-0 until the 78th minute and Garden Village pulled a second goal back with two minutes to go. From somewhere the referee added 8 minutes on but despite late pressure we held on for the win.

We had a great start we were two up inside 11 minutes, the ref we thought played a great advantage for the first but as the game wore on it was obvious we weren’t getting many decisions so it wasn’t really an advantage. The ball fell to Adam Llewellyn just inside the box and his shot gave the keeper no chance. The second on 11 minutes followed an excellent build up involving several players and Adam Llewellyn this time on the left side curled a shot inside the far post, again giving the keeper no chance. Garden Village must have had a record number of free kicks in this game as every time one of them went down they got a free kick. They also had a penalty on 21 minutes when a forward backed into our defender went down and was awarded a penalty. Gareth Couch diving to his right however brought off a terrific save. On the half hour following a Lido corner Village broke quickly won yet another free kick which was headed against Gareth Couch and  a Village player hit the rebound over the bar from a couple of yards. Morgan Freeman could have made it  3-0 on 35 minutes when he picked up a clearance beat several players drew the keeper and shot but the keeper saved it.

We should have had a penalty on 48 minutes, firstly Morgan Gardner was pushed in the back but stayed on his feet, then he was hacked down amazingly it drew no reaction from the referee. Morgan Freeman did make it 3-0 on 53 minutes when he latched on to a clearance, sped away from the defence and lobbed the keeper from 25 yards. Village then had many free kicks but were unable to make them count but on 78 minutes one of their subs went on a run beating several defenders, drew Gareth Couch and slotted it past him. Spurred on by this they poured forward looking for a second but generally the defence held firm. Morgan Freeman had a chance to finish off the game but shot at the keeper then with two minutes to go the Village pressure finally told and they pulled back a second. In the fifth minute of added time Morgan Freeman shot inches wide but we finished the game keeping the ball in the Village half to ensure a first win.