As two fans came in they were welcomed warmly as obvious
firm favourites and as they approached the bar door I was advised to “wait for
it….” but I had no idea why
As they opened the bar door the bar regulars all joined in
with a rousing chorus of “Hi Hooooo” -
that kept me chuckling for the whole game – so nice to see banter amongst
friends where no malice was intended and none taken
I also very much enjoyed a phrase I never thought I’d ever
hear – “you get into Dylan and I’ll get the flag”.
Alex was Dylan for the day and to see him desperately trying
to keep the costume trousers up as he marched across the pitch is another sight
that I won’t be able to forget in a long time
The teams lined up and St Neots had clearly got the wrong
end of the stick. This was billed as a game of football – not a
basketball/rugby cross.
Their numbers 4 and 6, the two centre backs, were absolutely
enormous and built like brick out-houses – I hoped that we’d taken note of this
and had plans to keep the ball on the deck
Poole were the brighter starters and with Preston on the
left and Brooks on the right the Saint’s full backs were all over the place and
crosses rained in from both left and right
Trouble was, they were all up in the air and let’s face it,
there was only ever going to be one team winning those battles
On 9 minutes the penny had clearly dropped for Preston as he
beat his man easily again and crossed the ball back low for Charles.
Charles hesitated though when a first time shot was called
for and although the ball ran to Preston, all the off balance winger was able
to do was weakly shoot at the keeper
Just 4 minutes later though, Poole put this right
Preston again cutting in between 2 defenders, proving that
both big men have the turning circle of an oil tanker, ran to the by line and
as the ball came back to Cann, at the second attempt he smashed the ball past
the keeper from close range 1-0
Despite excellent possession and play from Poole, not enough
balls were played over the St Neots mountainous defence to turn them which
meant that they were able to keep Poole at arms’ length, allowing Poole only
long range opportunities which rarely troubled the keeper.
With 2 minutes to go the St Neots number 10 became the crowd
favourite as he took a spectacular tumble in the box and got exactly what he
deserved – a yellow card
I’m sure he took heed of the gentle “encouragement” he
received to get up and continue playing
Half Time 1-0
The second half started very much as the first had ended
with Poole being on the front foot and it didn’t take long for the home side to
double the lead.
A left cross, low into the box (Poole were learning) had
Brooks and the keeper running at the ball and with an ear-shattering crash of
broken glass, the keeper’s bottle broke and Brooks got there first.
His instinctive stab hit the keeper, bounced back at Brooks
and as the ball ricocheted left Brooks was first there to knock the ball into the empty net
This strike seemed to wake the visitors up and with the Icelandic
looking number 7 pulling the strings in the middle, they suddenly became a
threat
Just 4 minutes later Poole were glad that the whistle happy
ref didn’t play any advantage as a cross from the right was put in, only to be
called back for a free kick just outside the box
From that free kick, a curling shot from their number 11
bounced off the top of the bar with the keeper nowhere near it - 2 let-offs for the price of 1
This heralded the best 20 minutes for St Neots with Poole
mostly hitting on the break.
A Spetch headed goal was ruled out with 15 minutes to go as
a foul on the keeper was given, much to the bafflement of players and crowd
alike and from then on the visitor’s threat was over.
Somehow, even though it was a clear reprieve, it knocked the
wind out of them
Cann had the last 2 chances of the game, both put on a plate
by the marauding Preston but both times fierce shots were equalled by the quick
reactions of the keeper.
Final score 2-0
Summary – A deserved victory but for me it was a bit
disappointing how many high balls were put in against the Peter Crouch tribute
back 4 – a total contrast to Tuesday when the ball didn’t get above grass level
When the ball WAS at feet, the play was a joy to watch with
excellent passing and movement with all looking comfortable on the ball
Star Man – Preston – Absolutely unstoppable on the wing and
was the start of everything good
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