DUNBAR GET REVENGE

DUNBAR UTD WHITE 5 - 2 MYS BLUE STRIPES (13Oct07)

With last week's win against Dunbar Utd White still in their minds the boys went into this re-match perhaps a little over-confident. That - coupled with being 2 players down as Jamie B and Owain were missing - made the match today a completely different affair.

The opening ¼ saw both sides cancelling each other out well as they each went in search of the opening goal. Defensively we were playing very well though, with Scott and Jamie A making sure that Jason didn't have too much to do in goal; but chances were limited for Kieron up front as Jack, Cameron, and Darrell slugged things out in midfield with a Dunbar team that had a few different faces from last week. Towards the end of the ¼ however, the Blue Stripes went close to taking the lead as Darrell saw a shot cannon off of the post - only for the ball to then bounce inches above Cameron's head as he rushed in on goal looking to score from the rebound.

Some positional changes for the 2nd ¼ then saw the Blue Stripes take a real grip on the game though. Cameron was working hard on the right to win the ball and push forward, and after one great run he sent in a good pass to Brendan who then had his shot blocked by the on-rushing keeper. Jason came close to opening the scoring as he too hit the post with a long range effort; and a few minutes later he got the breakthrough that the team deserved as he jinked and turned his way past 3 Dunbar players to calmly slot the ball into the back of the net. Just before the ref blew for ½ time however, Dunbar got themselves back into the game with their only effort of the ¼ as an in-swinging corner took a wicked deflection off of a defender's heels and went into the net.

This gave Dunbar a real boost, and they came out at the start of the 2nd half with all guns blazing which unsettled the boys a little. Positional changes also meant that we found ourselves a little exposed at the back before we eventually settled, and we gave away 2 cheap goals to find ourselves 3-1 down. The boys continued to battle away however, and were it not for a great display by the Dunbar keeper, we would have went back into the lead as both Darrell and Brendan came close to scoring after receiving defence-splitting passes from Jason. Jason then beat the keeper himself as he picked up the ball wide on the right and then slotted home from an impossibly tight angle near the by-line.

Going into the final ¼ looking for 2 goals to get the win, the boys pushed forward at every opportunity but just could not find a way passed an on-form Dunbar goalie. These 'win or bust' tactics saw Cameron, Jason, Jack, and Brendan all come close to scoring with at least 2 chances on target each; but ultimately the tactics were our un-doing as Dunbar caught us on the break twice to make the final result a flattering 5-2 to them.

Teamsheet: Brendan, Cameron, Darrell, Jack, Jamie A, Jason G, Kieron, Scott.

Goal-scorers: Jason G (2)