Pembury Sunday Reserves 4 v 0 Brenchley
Sunday brought another tough fixture against a Brenchley side that had finished 5th in this division last year. Once again though we were up for the challenge and after last weeks win we were confident that we could hold our own in this division following our promotion last season.
Lessons had been learned from the previous week and this time we started well and scored after 5 minutes when Mark Wyles won the ball in midfield and set up Matt Rice-Tucker to fire home a good finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. We were looking very lively going forward and on 23 minutes Matt repeated the feat with a very similar finish. A minute later we scored our third when good interplay between Matt and Kevin Smith enabled the ball to be squared to Rob Curd who tapped in the cross at the far post.
Three nil up at half time was not the one sided game it sounds and defensively we had to battle in midfield and be at our best at the back to maintain the lead. This was stressed at half time and we knew that things may become difficult if we allowed them back into the game with a goal. Fortunately we killed the game off shortly after the restart with a customary good strike from Rob for the fourth. Thereafter despite being well on top we couldn’t finish some good chances and so 4-0 remained the score until the final whistle.
There were some very good positives to take from the game. Sammy Balcombe who covered in goal for the absent Matt showed that he is an accomplished replacement. The defence gained more experience and, including the friendly games, gave its best display this season being in control for almost the whole 90 minutes with Olly Bryant and Joe Campbell both outstanding. Wylesy in the centre park showed his strength as a ball winner and enabled us to keep a very good Brenchley midfield in check. Up front Matt took his chances well and with Kevin showed they are a lively duo to track.
This week we travel to Crowborough Athletic for a cup game. Although they are now a division below they gave us two very close games last year and we will need to show the same level of commitment and competency as this week to progress.
Team:
S.Balcombe
N.Forward
J.Roxborough
O.Bryant
J.Campbell
T.Gent
M.Wyles
S.Bent
R.Curd
M.Rice-Tucker
K.Smith
Subs:
T.Lowe (for Forward)
M.Jermin (for Roxborough)
