Weakened side so close to win (From Penarth Times)

Weakened side so close to win

November 27

Spencer 6, Penarth 6

AS ILLNESS and injury continued to ravage Penarth's squad, the bare minimum of ten players made the trip to central London for their first crucial match this season against promotion rivals Spencer.

In front of Welsh international goalkeeper James Richardson, Will Evans was the only regular defender available and it was left to Andy Morgan and captain Matt Wills to step in again after fine performances against Purley.

This served to weaken an already threadbare midfield, although the trio of Stanford, Lee and Jones were rarely outplayed in the middle.

With the first choice attack line-up of Bolderson, Proctor and Barrett, the Welsh team were confident of a good result and went out intent on upsetting Spencer.

Perhaps complacent in the face of the weakened Penarth squad, Spencer started slowly and despite winning possession from the face off produced nothing of note during their first few attacks. Penarth on the other hand, started with the bit between their teeth and created several chances through excellent ball movement and outstanding solo efforts from Bolderson and Stanford to push themselves into a 3-0 lead at the quarter.

Following some stern words at the break, the home side emerged in the second quarter determined to make a game of it, and dominated possession for much of the period. With a weakened attack line, Spencer failed to cause Richardson many problems in the Penarth goal and relied on outside shots in the face of a well-drilled zone defence. Their dominance in possession did not go unrewarded, though, as they managed to score twice without reply from some superior ball and player movement around the crease to close the gap to 3-2 at halftime.

With a tiring midfield, Penarth set out to contain the opposition attack and limit them to the outside shots which had failed to trouble Richardson throughout the first half, while capitalising on fast break opportunities. The tactics paid off superbly, as once again Spencer were shut out and Penarth scored twice more on man-up plays and fast breaks to edge the lead back out to 5-2 by the end of the quarter.

Under fading light, the last quarter was a tense, scrappy affair, as Penarth conceded penalties and the home side took the score to 6-4. Penarth were reeling and weary and Spencer took advantage, making it 6-5, then levelling the score with less than a minute to play.

Penarth Man of the Match was Rod Stanford. Penarth's goalscorers were Bolderson (3), Proctor (2), Stanford (1).