Second match of the double header, Rain starting, Wind kicking up, Players down, No problem for these lads.

There was a quick 10 minute break between the previous match and this one and the boys were up for it. A few changes had to be made due to knocks, illness and others. Oliver, Ethan, Toby, Cam and Dean were ever present. In the midfield Harley and Sam came back in to partner Jack while Lewis B slotted into the RW role, Stephen in at LW and Fred's at ST. Kieron was still nursing a knock and didn't want to risk right away while Stan needed a quick breather and Charlie was still feeling the effects of his illness.

Again we needed a quick start and that is exactly what we did to get the upper hand and start on the front foot.
The boys were working hard in midfield with Jack, Harley and Sam running like mad men. Toby and Cam were cleaning up anything over the top and Dean and Ethan were getting the attacks going down the wings.

It's sometimes so difficult mentioning every single thing that the boys do but they were just brilliant, every single one of the 11 players who started this game.

We took the lead early in the game with little under 4 minutes on the clock. The goal came through some brilliant work from Stephen on the left. He won the ball from the keepers drop kick, He took it down, beat a man in a tackle before driving forward and getting a shot off that stung the palms of the keeper. The keeper pushed it out to the left of the goal however Stephen outmuscled his man and got to the byline before dinking a ball over the top of the keeper to the back post where Fred's had lost his marker with some brilliant movement and tapped it in at the back post for 1-0 and a deserved lead.

The second goal came from some more great work in the middle from Jack winning the ball in the midfield before he played it into the run of Sam. Sam sent Harley through down the right and after leaving 3 men in his wake Harley sent in a fantastic cross and again, Fred's with some brilliant movement, pulled off the back of his man and met the ball on the edge of the 6 yard box with a thumping header under the keepers dive for 2-0.

We were getting some real joy down the right side with Ethan and Lewis B linking up really well together. Battling hard, winning a lot of the balls that were being held up in the wind and getting us forward. Lewis and Sam both came close to adding to the score but the ball went agonizingly wide.

The boy's hard work was rewarded with a 3rd just before the half. This again came from some great work down the right. Ethan won the ball back on a goal kick and played it back into the path of Lewis B. Lewis was brilliant with his feet and danced through several tackles and holding off the tackles before cutting inside past one more defender. As he cut inside, the ball was on the edge of the area on his left foot and Lewis lined up and hit an absolute Thunderbugger with his left foot into the roof of the near post! 3-0.

HT - TD - 3 - Worthing United - 0

At the half a few changes were made with Lewis B needing a breather due to his illness, Harley went back out to RW and Stan came into the midfield. Kieron came back in for Fred's which moved Stephen back up top and Kieron out on the left. This was going to be a challenge with the wind, rain and tiredness starting to kick in. The boys knew they had to keep the ball, Keep the pressure on and see out the game to make sure they went home with the 3 points.

We came out of the blocks flying, keeping the pressure on Worthing and the wingers were getting a lot of joy as Jack and Stan starting to spray passes out wide to Kieron and Harley who were linking up well with Stephen, Ethan and Dean.

Toby, Cam and Oliver were talking really well between each other and doing well under pressure, opening up the play and giving us the chance to build out from the back.

Stephen was holding the ball up well against the wind, giving us the opportunity to get forward, bringing Sam, Kieron and Harley into the game.

The second half became a bit stop start with a few knocks, injuries and cramp starting to kick in. Jack went down a few times and so did Ethan, No surprise with the work that both had been putting in from the first whistle! Jack and Ethan had to come off so Lewis B came in for Ethan and Fred's came back on for Jack meaning Stephen would drop into the CM role.

Sam in the second half started to dribble like a pro, beating 4, 5, 6 players before going through on goal. 3 times he went through 1 on 1 and the keeper did well on 2 of them before Sam put it just wide on the 3rd chance.

Our final goal came from Toby winning the ball in the air before laying it into Stephen, Stephen laid it out wide to Kieron who then sent Sam through. Sam Dribbled past 2 players before putting in a left foot cross into the path of Fred's. Fred's did well and almost got his goal but the keeper and defender blocked it and Fred's adjusted and laid it back into the path of Harley who struck it low and hard into the back of the net. 4-0 and a deserved goal for Harley today.

FT- TD - 4 - Worthing United - 0

A fantastic result for the boys, dominant from the first whistle of the first game to the final whistle of the second game. Nothing less than 6 points were needed today and every single one of the boys showed up for us. The positivity from the lads and the quality of the talk today was top notch and they should be proud!

MOTM- Stephen M-F - A shift from Stephen in this game, after getting the goals in the first game, he started LW, moved to ST and finished in CM for the final 10 minutes. A swiss army knife performance and battled hard for the boys today.

TD Shipley FC

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