Right from the start Albion Park played very fast aggressive football and didn’t give Russell Vale time to settle on the ball. On literally our first breakaway into Albion Parks 18 yard box we won a corner and Harrison Benn curled the free kick into the top corner of the net to give the Cobras a 1-0 lead after 12 mins. To be fair to our opponents it was against the run of play. It did however give the Cobras a bit of confidence and we started to string a few passes together but the front players of Blair Dunn, Jordan Errington and Riley Hanlon were unable to create any clear cut chances to extend the lead. So at HT the score remained 1-0 to Russell Vale.
Albion Park began the second half in much the same manner as the first determined to get back on level terms. However for all their pressure it only resulted in one clear chance and Ethan Johnson was more than a match for it. Russell Vale continued to hold firm as frustration started to creep into Albion Park’s game resulting in one or two unsavoury incidents that you don’t normally encounter until the kids hit their teens. Russell Vale were always a threat on the break but just couldn’t find a clear opening to put the game away.
With 10mins left to go the teams concentration level dropped twice. A hopeful punt into the box led to a silly handball and they equalised from the penalty spot. Spurred on Albion Park turned the game up another notch and put the Cobras defence under a lot of pressure. After battling away so hard for so long the defence failed to deal with a shot at the near post and conceded the winner with time running out on the clock.
Having now seen all the teams in our division play I can honestly say Albion Park are the ones to beat. I still believe we are the best footballing side in Division II but on this performance it will take the lads a season to assimilate.
I would just like to add there was one daft comment made after Friday’s game that after a third consecutive defeat Russell Vale are playing badly this season. On the contrary good players don’t become bad players overnight they are merely playing at a higher level. The fact that we lost all three games by only one goal shows we don’t have far to go to catch up…………and trust me they will.
Don’t forget no training on Mondays this month only Wednesday “starting at 6:00pm” to 7:30pm.
YNWA
Coach