We came into this double header on the back of 4 straight wins and the team was set the realistic target of 4 points from the two games.
In the first game we were given a boost as Rusthall turned up with only 10 players. However as has been the case too often this season we started the game slowly, with too many players appearing to be more concerned with the cold weather and we fell behind after 10 minutes. This did at least spur us into action and the rest of the half was played in the Rusthall half. Throughout this period our best play was coming down our right, where Olly Allman was superb and causing their defenders problems whenever he ran with the ball. We were also looking very dangerous from corners, where Ross Taylor was delivering some excellent balls in, which the opposition did well to defend, particularly as their keeper did not look at all comfortable dealing with any high balls into his area. Eventually our pressure told when another run from Olly saw his shot take a deflection off of Jamie BushÕs heel, to wrong foot the keeper and draw us level.
The second half started as poorly as the first and we once again fell behind, as a result of all round poor team defending. As with the first half we then dominated possession and for the second time in the match benefited from a deflection. This time Matt Rice-Tucker hit a shot from just outside the box, which following a deflection, looped into the top corner with their keeper all over the place. We continued to press for the winner, but to no avail.
Team:
L.Thomson
M.Rice-Tucker
T.Bowyer
T.Crouch
L.Drury
O.Allman
K.Waterman
I.Crouch
R.Taylor
J.Bush
M.Wyles
Subs:
C.Anderson (for I.Crouch)
J.Austin