Sherwood FC 4 - 4 Holy Spirit Celtic
Sherwood clearly like adversity. With Jordan injured and Oscar away, we had only ten men to field – and this included two goalkeepers. But sometimes it is the challenge of overcoming such obstacles that leads to a better performance. Certainly, by the end of this thrilling confrontation between Sherwood and their old rivals Holy Spirit, Neil couldn’t single out any individual for ‘Man of the Match’ (just as well as Ep had left the trophy at home for the 2nd week running).
Both teams richly deserved their points. The score ricocheted between them: 1 – 0 Sherwood; 1-1; 2-1 Sherwood, 2-2, 3-2 Sherwood, 3-3; 3-4 Holy Spirit, 4-4. The tension was incredible.
So too was the play. Kel put in the first goal within a couple of minutes of the opening whistle – a classic Kel following on from a bold run through the opposition. Tyler booted in the second, bringing to an end his run of near misses. The third was an awesome penalty, taken by Nico and awarded for a dodgy tackle in the box. At half time the score was 3-3 and the worry in the Sherwood camp was that our lack of subs would give Holy Spirit the second half advantage.
But for the first few minutes we were back up to 11 men as Jordan braved his sprained ankle to make a valuable contribution (including a great run on goal). As he limped off it looked as if we might replace him with a rather younger player (the toddler who decided to support Patrick in goal). It was Holy Spirit who then pushed into the lead.
Fortunately Sherwood kept on pushing. There was no room for injuries. Kel was temporarily winded but the management sympathy was scant (Neil: ‘Kel, are you alright’……’Kel, get up there’). The Holy Spirit goalie was desperate to play up front and kept leaving his goal – this did help in letting Kel lob in the final ball to even the score. As the final minutes ticked away, both sides went for everything going. Holy Spirit’s goalie knocked himself out and had to be hurriedly subbed, the Sherwood lads shouted encouragement to each other knowing that a point or more was in their grasp.
And then it was over. What a fantastic match. Well done to both sides – a real treat for the fans.
Man of the Match was awarded to Luke who made sure the score line was not pushed higher than it already was by the opposition with some excellent defending.
Every player contributed to Sherwood’s sterling performance but the Match Reporter (over on the sunny side) does want to give a special commendation to Matthew for excellent work in defence, and Nico for a superb penalty and some quite stunning clearances down the line. We’re in double figures now!
