Sunday 22nd December - k.o 10:30am
Referee: Phil Towers
Redhill Leisure Centre was a new venue for me, but apparently Kev used to be a regular visitor to the Centre in his younger days! After a 12 minute journey, we arrived at our destination and even at first look, it was very impressive. The 3G pitch c/w floodlights is, I think, a fairly new addition to the Centre and very nice it is too (unless you’re not a fan of plastic pitches, that is)!
The game was a league cup fixture with the prize for the winners a quarter final home tie against Hucknall Town. Dowhan are local to me and Kev, playing their home games at Linby CW. A win would set up a cracker of a local derby!
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| Sunday league changing rooms! |
Dowhan lined up as follows:
Gary Hickman, Steff Rodgers, Tom Coupe, Glenn Garfield, Billy Brookes, TK Mushambi, Johnny Bernards, Aaron Potter, Paddy Webb, Chay Betteridge, Ross Cheeseman. Subs: Jamie Thomas and Jack Walker.
Phoenix (in surname alphabetical order)
Dillon Bird, Dom Bradbury, Ryan Campbell, Ben Flynn. Hakeem Jackson, Ryan Krause, Tom Maxwell, Ashley Moorcroft, Sam Raynor, Cameron Thurgood, Jordan Whitehead. Subs: Jamie Bircumshaw, Damon Charlton, Connor Disney, Kyle Stovell.
Not many of the Phoenix players were known to me, but they do currently sit top of the NSL Premier division table so it looked, at least on paper, like it should be a cracker. It was!
It took the home team just 5 minutes to open their account, PADDY WEBB lifting the ball over the keeper from just inside the box. Phoenix never let going behind phase them, and from the re-start it looked a decent bet that they would soon draw level. As it was, it took them until the 27th minute to break down the strong Dowhan back line, SAMUEL RAYNOR firing powerfully past home keeper Gary Hickman.
WEBB restored the home teams lead with 6 minutes of the first half remaining, firing the ball into the roof of the net from close range. At first it appeared that the keeper had held the ball as it rebounded off the goal frame, but it had actually hit the inside roof of the net before dropping down and landing in the keepers arms! H-T 2-1
Three minutes into the 2nd half the visiting keeper let a tame WEBB shot go past him, assuming the ball was going out for a goal-kick. It didn’t – it crept inside his near post and the Eastwood striker’s triple was complete.
Phoenix weren’t done though and with a superb strike, HAKEEM JACKSON made it 3-2 on 66, before the same player levelled the scores at three apiece with just 4 minutes to play.
The dreaded spectre of extra time loomed, but thankfully it wasn’t needed. Dowhan full-back Steff Rodgers made a terrific, powerful run down the right wing before picking out WEBB, who collected the pass and fired the ball diagonally across the keeper and into the far corner to restore the home team’s lead. There wasn’t enough time for Phoenix to level again and Dowhan can now look forward to their local derby. F-T 4-3
All in all, a decent game – a lot of people don’t particularly
like Sunday non-league footie, but I reckon it’s great. Not seen
much of Dowhan yet this season, but that may be because they have
only played three league games since the season began on the 8th September!
Prior to kick off, Kev advised me that we’d received a donation for our Danielle's Flutterbyes charity from Invision Technology (UK) Ltd. Added to the £1 per game me and Kev add to the fund, our total now stands at £475.00!
