5 STAR PERFORMANCE WITH KIERAN LEADING THE WAY

After a super Club lunch (thanks to Claire and Graham) the prospects of then watching a game of football seemed unlikely after steady rain fall made the pitch look very soggy and unplayable. But fortunately the Referee thought otherwise and he was spot on because the conditions did not spoil what turned out to be a cracking game with lots of goals plus a worldie Beckhamesque goal from the opposition that would grace any Match of the Day programme and nearly sparked off a remarkable comeback.

Our guests currently sit at the foot of the table but a cursory glance at their recent results shows that they are an improving team having won 4 of their last 5 games with they only defeat coming against champions elect MK Irish. Fortunately we had a strong team and bench for this game and Ryan Sturges sensibly made full use of his squad to give everybody some playing time.

The game was a personal triumph for Kieran Turner who was a tour de force with an outstanding performance that saw him bag a hat-trick within the first half hour and then set up a 4th goal for Harry Shepherd at the start of the second half. Kieran was rightly given the Man of the Match award by Greg Burns and Gareth Darby from Tring Cricket Club.

It took Kieran only 6 minutes to get off the mark, coolly slotting the ball past the visiting keeper after being set up by a lovely first time pass from Dylan Fitzpatrick. Goal number 2 for Kieran arrived in the 24th minute following an outstanding move started by Harry Shepherd’s successful tackle in midfield with the ball being relayed to Carbs, Jack Harvey, Max and then Kieran who made no mistake. Kieran claimed his hat-trick on the half hour mark when a slack pass was picked up by Max who neatly played it through to him and it was never in any doubt that he was miss such an opportunity.

We did create some other chances and could have scored even more goals and our opponents, who started well and played some lovely football, went in at the break looking shell shocked. HT Score 3-0.

We only had to wait 6 minutes after the restart to get our 4th goal and inevitably Kieran was the creator. Dylan Fitzpatrick played the ball out to Kieran who got past the defender and then pulled the ball back to Harry Shepherd to score from close range. Score 4-0.

The game looked over and done with but then defender Josh Newman pulled a goal back in the 74th minute with a stunning shot from around 35 yards. It was a bolt out of the blue but we still had a 3 goal advantage so there was no need to panic but a minute later our opponents pulled another goal back when their talented winger Daniel Kemp broke away down our left flank and then picked out his team mate Plamedi Bomolo who tucked the ball away nicely to make the impossible possible. Score 4-2.

Fortunately we kept our cool and restored our 3 goal lead within 4 minutes when Max Hercules slipped a nice pass to Finn Rolfe and his exquisite cross was superbly headed home by Frankie Hercules to calm the nerves quell a late rally from our opponents. FT Score 5-2.

Despite the difficult conditions both sides played some great football and it was a superb advert for the local game. Shefford have some very talented players and kept going right to the end. They certainly didn’t play like a team at the bottom of the table and if they can keep their recent form going they will surely climb out of danger.

Kieran rightly received the plaudits for his game winning performance but it was a terrific all round team performance that extended our great run of form and with some of the other results going our way (London Lions and Wormley Rovers both lost) it cemented our 3rd place position in the table.

On Tuesday we are at home again to Potton United in the Gladwish Challenge Trophy (Quarter Final), then on Saturday we travel to Wormley Rovers for a League fixture.

Finally our 2 mascots were Willaby and Flynn and there was a nice gesture at the end when they had their photos taken with the Hercules brothers who are their PE Teachers at school.
TA: Josh Ameganvi, Harry Jones (Mason Clarke 75), Dylan Fitzpatrick, Dave O’Conner (Harrison Cornick 53), George Carbery (Capt), Jack Harvey (Finn Rolfe 63), Greg Deer (Harry Beaumont 75), Harry Shepherd, Frankie Hercules, Kieran Turner (Bailey Osborne 63), Max Hercules.

Scorers:

TA: Kieran Turner (6, 24, 30), Harry Shepherd(51), Frankie Hercules (79)

ST&C: Josh Newman (74), Plamedi Bomolo (75)

Man of the Match: Kieran Turner awarded by Greg Burns and Gareth Darby from Tring Cricket Club.

Mascots: Willaby & Flynn

Crowd: 130