JHGS Vs. Florida Albions Match Report
Hampden put out a very strong and physical side as many of the opponents were two years older, therefore much bigger than most!
We started very slowly, as many of the players were anxious. Florida, however, started brightly, putting the pressure on Hampden. JHGS were defending well, but a quick and skillful break put the home side ahead.
John Hampden were shocked as they had never been behind so far on tour. This resulted to a lapse in concentration where Florida took advantage and this resulted in a foul against Ben Elliot’s brave goalkeeping.
After this, Hampden started to regain confidence which led to some good football and two goal line clearances from the Florida captain.
Eventually, the pressure became too much for Florida and a good delivery from Taylor Livesey left Luke Hamilton in the clear as he kept a cool head to chip the goalie expertly to equalise.
This seemed to motivate John Hampden as they started to play much better football of which they are capable of. However, they soon received a big blow as the inform Phil James suffered a head injury (he’s ok now though) which meant he was unable to carry on. So up stepped Andy Donnerley, who’s pace proved to be useful.
The second half started in the same way the first had ended. With the midfield trio dominating play in the centre of the park.
Midway through the second half the game was still tight, but luckily for John Hampden, Andrew Perring was feeling better and was raring to go.
This gave John Hampden a lift and it was not long before they took the lead through a cross from man of the match, Ryan Goodchild, which went straight to Marcus Mealing who teased Florida’s defence with some skillful footwork and finished it off with a cheeky, yet exquisite chip.
Florida piled on the pressure towards the end of the game, desperately trying to get an equaliser, but were caught out buy a long goal kick which put Florida’s defence under pressure as Matty Thomas was like a terrier at the defence’s foot. This pressure forced an own goal. To end the game with a comfortable result of 3-1.
Man of the Match was left back Ryan Goodchild but was closely followed by Thomas Jansons who put in a solid performance in the centre of midfield.
Sunday, 29 July 2007