11th November 2018
Charnwood Mountsorrel (1) 2 v
2 (0) Lichfield
(CM won 12-11 APS)
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Oakman Wilkes |
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Charnwood Mountsorrel beat Lichfield
in this Round 1 game at Soar Valley Leisure Centre.
The home team began well,
linking midfield to attack with slick passing and the threat from Paddy Oakman
up front kept the visitor’s defence on its toes. With a sound defence, Charnwood dominated the
first half and deservedly took the lead when Oakman gathered the ball in his
own half and scampered through the Lichfield defence before firing past the
keeper – a spectacular goal, all of his own making. Charnwood kept up the pressure and Oakman was
unlucky not to increase the lead on a number of occasions in the opening
period.
The second half saw
Lichfield press further up the field, creating periods of pressure but few
chances, thanks to the home defence of Tony Kirk, Graham Wolloff and Hash
Navsaria, who continually won important tackles across the back line. It was the away side who equalised from a
penalty corner, however, when the ball was switched right and the shot was
half-blocked on the way to the net.
Charnwood responded well, with their hard-working midfield providing
both cover and attacking guile – it was from a smart attacking move from deep
in their own half that Charnwood re-took the lead a few minutes later, with Ian
Wilkes prominent throughout before delivering the coup-de-grace with a somewhat
tired reverse stick finish! Great work,
Ian!
After weathering a
Charnwood barrage, Lichfield had the best of the latter stages and scored with
the last hit of the game, when the previously-anonymous Chaudry fired in from
close range. The away side were patently
relieved to have scrambled to a draw at the death.
So the tie went to penalty
strokes and what a contest it was!
Lichfield set the tone, converting their first two strokes, whilst
Charnwood had theirs saved. From a
position of considerable strength, however, Lichfield could not get over the
line, missing two opportunities to seal the game in the first round. At 3-3, the Charnwood takers – Ravi Matharu,
Kevin Stanton-King, Chris Waterfield, Wilkes and Oakman – did not miss again,
successfully completing sudden-death round two to leave the score at 8-8. With the score at 11-11 in round three, the
Lichfield player failed to convert, leaving Wilkes to seal a memorable win
12-11 APS.
Squad:
C. Waterfield
(c), T. Kirk, R. Matharu, B. Harris (GK), R. Mercer, H. Navsaria, P. Oakman, W.
Relf,
K. Stanton-King,
I. Wilkes, G. Wolloff