Poly 3s 2 Old Parkonians 1
Ollie Davies, 1 February 2010 16:44
Poly needed to quickly re establish the fine
form that they had ended 2009 with and
take that into 2010. Admittedly they had only played one game of
the new year which
was the week previous with the weather once again playing a part in
that. Added to
which, the 2-1 loss at Civil Service was a somewhat scrappy
affair.
On their return home to the Poly this weekend though that would all
change. The
pitch looked good, Davies wasn't half an hour late and Symcox,
Lloydie and Tarlowski
returned to the side with Russell Watt, Campbell Harper and Mark
Flannaghan
unavailable. This meant that Williams slotted in at centre back
with Johnston
reverting himself to left back, Symcox took his place along side
Spear up top and
Tarlowski was left with his place on the bench.
Both sides started the game quite well with neither side really
testing either
goalkeeper. A few catches to deal with in the main with both sides
looking pretty
solid.
The away sides left winger seemed to be enjoying a lot of the ball
as he did in the
home game and was receiving a lot of support down our right hand
side so Currey and
Hickson quickly realised that they would have their work cut
out.
Poly's best chance of the half came when the ball broke to Symcox
in the box and as
the keeper rushed out to meet him he poked the ball just passed the
far post.
Parkonians had a couple of chances themselves, one ball over the
top, Davies was a
little late off his line but just about managed to get down and
force the striker to
put his shot wide. Then from a corner which was taken short to the
Parkonians left
winger who had drifted over to the right hand side, Poly were late
to react and so
he carried the ball infield and unleashed a fierce effort at goal
which Davies
parried over the bar.
With the scores still goalless at half time the home side knew they
had the beating
of their opponents.
The second half got under way and Poly were out of the blocks the
quicker of the two
carving out chances again. This time it was from back to front,
Davies bowled a ball
out to Johnston on the left, slightly long but the Parkonians right
midfielder
couldn't get it under control and Johnston came away with it,
having continued is
attack down that side his persistence paid off and he won his side
a corner. From
the resulting corner which was taken short, Johnston delivered and
Spear proved that
it's not just his pace and finishing ability with his feet that
were missed early in
the season as he rose highest to head a looping header over the
goalkeeper and into
the back of the net for 1-0.
The fear then was would the home side sit back and invite a lot of
pressure as they
had done on more than one occasion earlier in the season, the
answer since their
recent run of good form was quite the opposite with attack being
the best form of
defence.
Having been warned at the start of the game that the referee may be
a little card
happy, the likes of Davies and Johnston managed to keep themselves
out of his
notebook but Fraser picked up a yellow card for a late tackle on
their right winger
deep into the second half. A little harsh to say the least,
especially given their
players reaction but Fraser took it on the chin and continued to
concentrate on his
game.
Busman and Buckland had worked tirelessly throughout in the middle
of the park,
bossing the midfield for large parts of the game. The ball broke to
Busman on the
edge of the area and as he took a touch to get away from his man he
was cynically
hauled to the ground.
Up stepped Symcox to drive his shot across goal, through a crowd of
players and into
the bottom corner to make the score 2-0 and the points all but
safe.
Poly even looked odds on to earn a clean sheet, when Davies could
only get a touch
on a one on one and with the ball still heading goal wards, Fraser
was their to
clear it off the line.
Tarlowski was to replace the hard working Fraser who had picked up
a caution but
also worked himself into the ground so some fresh legs would
hopefully help see the
game out and as always Fraser would take up his David Moyes like
approach on the
touchline, encouraging every Poly player right through to the
end.
Parkonians seemed to respond better to conceding the second goal
than they did the
first and began to press more with the other winger that had
threatened in the first
game coming on from the bench. One ball dropped in the Poly area
which had a large
suspicion of offside about it as it landed at the feet of the
Parkonians forward, he
struck the ball which was blocked by Davies and as the rebound
landed to their
busier left winger, Davies managed to scramble across to smother
the second attempt.
When the clean sheet was almost a certainty as there were only
about 3 minutes left
on the clock, Poly went to sleep momentarily and a long punt over
the top allowed
the away sides right winger through on goal with acres of spaces.
As Davies rushed
out of his area to meet him, him simply poked the ball one side,
ran the other and
rolled the ball into an empty net. Thankfully it was all too little
and too late and
the win was deserved in the end, from front to back with Symcox and
Spear and also
Busman and Buckland working their socks off. The big question is
why can't the Poly
be consistent throughout the season as they have proved they are a
match for any
side in this league. Still, another long trip around the North
Circular for most of
their payers next week to see if they can keep this momentum
going.
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