Match Review

18th February 2001 Burton Joyce 3 v 1 Sherwood

Scorer: Sam Smith (3)

Games which are in the school holidays sometimes can cause problems, for this game BJ were without the services of Anthony Kefer, James Bird and Daniel Roberts. An early frost had failed to clear but the pitch was declared playable, in fact it was soft underneath. Sam Smith was captain as James Bird was absent.

Sherwood were an unknown quantity to ourselves, this being the our first match against them. However we could see from their previous results that they had improved during the season in a similar way to ourselves. This promised to be an exciting match. The match started briskly and within the first minute BJ set up a good move, Mathew Powroznyk passed into the middle to Tom Parkinson who managed to pass one player and feed the ball on to Sam Smith who duly despatched the ball into the far corner of the net. 1-0. The game then settled with plenty of end to end play but 10 minutes later Mathew picked the ball up on the right wing, out-paced two players and drove in a superb cross which Sam met at the far side of the penalty area, he brought the ball inside and shot firmly to bag his 2nd goal of the game. 2-0. Sherwood refused to let their heads drop and a few moments later they totally split the BJ defence and pulled the game back to 2-1 with a well taken goal. Just before half time Sherwood nearly equalised but Jamie Gibbs dived very bravely at the feet of the approaching Sherwood striker. Half Time 2-1.

Manager Andy Parkinsons half-time talk was positive with praise for the hard work of the first 25 minutes, he also warned BJ to be careful of counter attacks. The 2nd half started in the same way as the first, fast and furious. Mathew Powroznyk was moved back into his more familiar role in defence. James Clark was doing a good job by disrupting the Sherwood defence and was unlucky to shoot wide early on. Sherwood built a good attack from defence and looked like they were going to score but the ball was cleared a foot from the line by Niels Hart, the crowd gasped with relief. As the half went on, still in icy cold conditions, BJ attacked more and more and scored again with Sam Smith shooting from 15 yards to bag his hat trick (and his 29th league goal of the season). 3-1. This was followed by a shot from Tom Parkinson just rising over the bar and Oliver Woodward, who worked tirelessly, shooting just wide. BJ were on top for the rest of the match but all credit to Sherwood whose players never gave up. Final score 3-1.

Special thanks must go to referee Paul Woodward who had a superb match in freezing conditions.

Verdict : A good victory in freezing conditions, and without three of the squad.

Manager's Comment : "I think this was one of the most pleasing victories of the season. The weather was bitter cold and the lads were struggling to keep warm. They all worked hard - and very well done Sam for the hat trick, well deserved."

Performance of the Week : Oliver Woodward - Oliver worked really hard today. He was a constant problem for the opposition and was always in the thick of the action. He also made two superb runs from midfield to set up good ball for our strikers, and was unluckly not to score himself . Well Done Woody!!



To see Oliver with his award Click here



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