After Last weeks disappointing result, the boys were looking to bounce back and get a result against a resilient Saltdean Side who we had played earlier in the season. We knew that Saltdean are a great side and have recently been on a good run of form including beating Division 1 Three Bridges in the cup.

The weather today was a bit blustery with winds of up to 55mph in the gusts but the boys knew that they could get the ball down and play some brilliant football, which is exactly what they did.

Switching up a few things from last week, we went 4-2-3-1 with Oliver, Cam, Ryan, Ethan and Dean keeping their spots at the back with Stan and Jack holding. Alafy, Sam and Stephen sat just in front with Kieron leading the line. A strong side but we also had great options off the bench with Mase, Lewis W, Toby, Tian and Freddie O itching to come on and effect the game.

Saltdean started the stronger out of the two teams, taking the game to us, working well in the midfield with their Number 15 pulling the strings and spraying balls across the pitch giving them a few chances to run at the defence early but our boys stood strong with Ryan and Dean clearing up a lot of the balls over the top and Cam, Ethan and Oliver sweeping up the rest while been on the front foot. Jack and Stan were battling hard in the middle and Sam even had to drop a bit to influence the game.

A few sighters at goal came shortly after 10 minutes for us with Kieron, Alafy, Sam and Stephen all coming close to opening the scoring. A mixture of poor finishing and some good saves meant the game stayed level.

Our first goal came shortly after 15 minutes with the wind playing a part. Sam had made a brilliant run down the right chasing a through ball from Ethan but the wind took the ball out. From the resulting Goal Kick, Saltdean tried to play it short and played a 1-2 with the keeper before looking to go long. Sam was the quickest to react to this and collected the ball around 25 yards out before taking a touch and laying the ball off into his path. With a quick glance up, Sam was able to catch the keeper off balance and he hit a brilliant shot, low and hard into the bottom left corner to put us 1-0 up.

The second goal came right after kick off with Cam winning the long ball back and pinging it out to the right hand side. Stephen held the ball up and played it back to Ethan. Ethan took his time, beat a man and laid it into Sam's run. Sam was strong, held off 2 players before playing a quick pass into the path of Kieron who held off his man before playing the return pass to Sam on the run. Sam took the ball in his stride before beating a man and hitting a brilliant shot into the bottom right hand corner past the diving keeper. 2-0

Sam completed his Hat trick within 5 minutes and his third was another great goal with build up starting at the back with Oliver collecting the ball, rolling it out to Ryan before playing it into Dean. Dean laid it off into the path of Jack who played a quick 1-2 with Stan. Jack then spread the ball out to Alafy, who drove with the ball before laying into Sam. Sam again, drove at the defence, causing chaos. He beat 2 players and then another quick pass into Alafy's path before receiving the return pass which Sam hit first time that flew into the bottom left corner again! Brilliant finish! 3-0

Our scoring wrapped up with an absolute peach of a goal from Alafy. With just over 25 minutes gone, Ryan won the ball and the back before pinging it out to Dean on the left. Dean played a pass into Stan who switched it over to the right hand side. Ethan played it into Kieron who took the ball on the turn before trying to shoot but the Saltdean player got there just before and toed it away to Dean again. Dean laid it into Alafy who with some brilliant skill beat 2 players and cut inside just on the edge of the area before hitting an absolute Beaut of a shot, curling into the top right hand corner. 4-0

HT - TD - 4 - Saltdean - 0

A dominant ending to the half and the boys took a well deserved lead in at the break. At the half we made some changes with Kieron needing to come off due to a knee issue so Sam went up top and Tian slotted into the 10 role & Lewis slotting in for Jack.

With the wind against us this half, we knew that it was going to be a difficult half but if we could keep it compact, keep the ball down and defend well that we could get the result.

The first 10 minutes of the half flew past with both teams battling in the midfield and trying to get the upper hand.
The game was getting a bit end to end with the wind so we needed to make a few changes to sure up the middle and give us the best chance to see the game through. We bought on Toby in the DM role, replacing Stan who had another great game and Mase on for Alafy on the left hand side.
Toby and Mase bought a sense of calm and both did really well keeping possession of the ball in a period of the game when we needed it. Tian worked extremely hard in the 10 role to create chances and we had a few close calls with Sam, Stephen and Lewis all coming close to adding another goal.

We were solid for the next 10 minutes giving us the chance to make a few more subs with Freddie O coming on up front to hold the ball up and Alafy coming back on for an injured Stephen.

Fred's, Alafy, Mase and Tian were playing some brilliant football and with Toby, Ryan, Cam and Dean all sweeping up we were able to see out the rest of the game! Special mention to Dean who pulled off an unbelievable block on the line to keep the clean sheet!

FT - TD - 4 - Saltdean - 0

A fantastic game and a brilliant result from the boys this week after last weeks difficult result. A much needed win in the league and a performance every lad should be proud of!

MOTM- Sam Roadley - Back to back MOTM awards for Sam and again, hard to argue! A brilliant performance in the 10 role, clinical in the first half scoring some brilliant goals.

TD Shipley FC

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