Colts vs Studley Flyers (25/11/19)

Saturday morning saw an early start for Colt who were looking to preserve an unbeaten league run stretching back to mid-October, and conclude the Pool phase of the league season on a high. More wet weather in the run-up to the game resulted in confirmation that it would take part a mere hour or so before kick-off; it proved the right decision as the Perdiswell pitch was in decent enough condition for a competitive match to be played out. Colts started with Zac in goal, Ollie, Dyl and Ewan forming the now-familiar 3-man defence, with Tom joining Nath, George and Caleb in midfield and Haz resuming striking duties. Reggie was unfortunately ill, and Connor and Josh were unlucky to be delayed due to mechanical issues, just making it to the ground before kick off and joining a returning Louis and Cam on the bench.
The first half saw Studley start the brighter with Colts struggling to get a foothold early on - Zac being called on several times to keep the scores level. Gradually Colts started gain momentum with Tom in particular enjoying an industrious time and Nathan showing flashes of Ryan Giggs circa 1999 with some outstanding footwork. The game opened up into an end-to-end contest during the half as Colts found their rhythm and started to press, with Harry in particular looking dangerous - supplied by some delightful through-balls from Ollie and Nathan. Their hard work was almost undone midway through the half when Studley saw a goal rightly chalked off for offside after some pinball/ricochet action in the box ended with the ball flicking past Zac into the net. As the half wore on Harry, George and Caleb all had chances drift wide of the opponents goal as Colts finished the half slightly in the ascendancy.
The 2nd half started in much the same vein, after changes by manager Stephen Coopey at the break - Louis, Cam and Josh replacing Zac, Harry and Ollie (who was feeling the affects of a man-cough). Within minutes Louis had burst through from another great through ball and slotted the ball home to open the scoring. This seemed to stir the visitors somewhat - a mixture of raised energy levels and robust challenges saw the referee give a spate of free kicks in favour of Colts; the last of which saw Josh fire home a wonderful Reggie-esque free kick to double the lead. Connor, making his debut for Colts was impressive and showed flashes of (hopefully!) things to come with some determined runs down the left and a couple of half chances that were saved by the outstanding Studley keeper.
Although Colts appeared to be in control, Studley did well not to drop their heads and pulled a deserved goal back after a breakaway, then quickly added a second after Colts failed to clear their lines; however Colts rallied and were looking slightly the stronger team when the referee blew for full time.
All in all an absorbing match with probably a fair result, although Colts will be ultimately disappointed that they couldn't hold out for the win. Tom, who switched from Central-midfield to defence for the second half was deservedly awarded man-of-the match.