Match ReportEarley Gunners continued their good start to the season with a 4-0 home win over Warwick Arms. The game was played in difficult windy conditions. Gunners had the advantage of the slope and the wind in the first half and dominated possession although they failed to create too many clear cut chances. However, Kevin Rapley managed to score to give Gunners a slender 1-0 half time lead.Unfortunately, the crosses into the box were of poor quality in the first half.Despite, tougher conditions in the second half, Gunners managed to improve and played some better football and created a few more chances in front of goal. Phil Byrne scored his first goal of the season when the opposing keeper fumbled the ball leaving Phil with an easy tap in to give Gunners a 2-0 lead.Warwick Arms did make the occasional break forward but were kept at bay thanks to a well organised defence with Sean Kearns dominant in the air and Paul Ali ably sweeping behind him.Tony Poacher’s long goal kicks ensured the team were not put under any immediate pressure from the opposition from goal kicks into the wind.Gunners continued to press in the second half and had more success when the ball was played to their wide players with Chris Price and Darren Fry looking dangerous on the wings.Jon Weller was introduced in right midfield for his first club appearance and looked lively on the right hand side of midfield.Kevin Rapley was unlucky not to add his second when his overhead kick came back off the bar.Gunners killed the game when Paul Clark struck a crisp volley to make it 3-0 and Phil Byrne scored his second goal after some great footwork by Leigh Holdway. Julian Willis had another untroubled game in goal.Paul Ali was Gunners "Man of the Match" with a great performance as sweeper although the rest of the Gunners defence also played well.Match FactsMOM : Pa AliGoals : P Byrne (2), K Rapley (1), P Clark (1)Team: (GK) J Willis, (RB), C Price, (CD) S Kearns, (CD) Pa Ali, (LB) T Poacher, (RM) R Keyse, (CM) P Clark, (CM) L Holdway, (LM) D Fry, (F) K Rapley, (F) P Byrne, (Subs) J Weller, I Thornhill, K BuncePictures
Match Report
Earley Gunners made a fantastic start to their first ever season with a convincing 8 - 1 victory over South Stoke Res.
Gunners made a good start to the game and immediately put the opposition under pressure and created a couple of chances to score.
Gunners eventually took the lead when Kevin Rapley’s header was deliberately handled on the line and a penalty was awarded which Kevin slotted home.
Unfortunately, the opposing player was also sent off for the offence and South Stoke Res were reduced to ten men for the rest of the game.
Despite having the majority of possession for the rest of the half, Gunners found it difficult to score against the reorganised team, although Paul Clark did have a couple of chances to score but only managed to trouble the keeper with one effort. However with a few minutes to go before half time Nick Burrows added another goal to give Gunners a 2-0 lead.
The second half saw Gunners dominate the opposition with Paul Clark and Dave Owen taking charge of the midfield and the goals that were promised in the first half soon materialised.
Kevin Rapley added a second half hat-trick whilst Dave Owen scored with a shot from outside the box after a free kick from Paul Clark who then got in on the action himself with a close range left footed shot.
Sean Kearns also added a goal when got on the end of a Paul Ali cross and slotted the ball home from close range. Gunners had numerous other chances to score including a thunderous volley from Phil Byrne.
South Stoke Res did manage to score a consolation goal when a long range effort was misjudged by the keeper but Gunners defence was hardly under pressure for the entire second half of the game.
The final result was a convincing win for Gunners which was helped by the early dismissal of an opposing player. This allowed Gunners go on to dominate the second half of the game.
Gunners "Man of the Match" went to Chris Price at full back who had a great game with some good overlapping runs and good distribution of the ball. Kevin Rapley also had a good game with a four goal haul.
Match Facts
MOM : C Price
Goals : K Rapley (4), D Owen (1), P Clark (1), S Kearns (1), N Burrows (1)
Team : (GK) J Willis, (RB) C Price, (CB) S Kearns, (CB) F McNaughton, (LB) T Poacher, (RM) Pa Ali, (CM) D Owen, (CM) P Clark, (LM) D Fry, (F) N Burrows, (F) K Rapley, (Subs) P Byrne, L Holdway, R Keyse
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Match ReportEarley Gunners strolled to an easy victory against a disorganised AFC Meakins side who began the game with only 9 men although they were up to full strength after about 10 minutes.Gunners scored 6 goals in the first half and had numerous chances to score more but complacency (and sometimes greed) hampered the teams chances.The team were only troubled in defence when the opposition left more men upfield because they had not retreated form an earlier attack. Julian Willis was called into action to make two saves in the first half.Tony Poacher made a bid for glory when he set off on a mazy run from deep inside his own half, he beat half a dozen players before being tackled just outside the penalty area before he could unleash a shot.In the second half, Gunners started poorly and conceded 2 goals both down to some "casual" play. However, Gunners recovered to add a further 4 goals to make the final score 10-2 to Gunners. Gunners again had plenty of further opportunities to score and some average shooting prevented the scoreline from being any higher.Jon Weller led the way with a hat-trick and a "Man of the Match" award. Further goals were added through Ian Thornhill (2), Kevin Rapley , Dave Owen, Sean Kearns, Phil Byrne and an own goal.Match FactsMOM : J WellerGoals : J Weller (3), I Thornhill (2), D Owen (1), K Rapley (1), P Byrne (1), S Kearns (1), Own Goal (1)Team : (GK) J Willis, (RB) C Price, (CB) Pa Ali, (CB) S Kearns, (LB) T Poacher, (RM) J Weller, (CM) D Owen, (CM) L Holdway, (LM) D Fry, (F) K Rapley, (F) I Thornhill (Subs) P Byrne, N Burrows, R KeysePictures
Match ReportEarley Gunners continued their good start to the season with a 6-0 win over Chalfont Old Boys.
Gunners had a shaky start when Julian Willis was called in action to make a save within the first 30 seconds but Gunners soon took control when they managed to score two goals in the first ten minutes. The first came from Dave Owen when his well struck shot was not held by the keeper and the second came from another shot outside the box from Paul Clark which again the keeper could not handle.
Earley dominated the rest of the half and played some good one touch football. Gunners created numerous chances to score several more goals and were rewarded when Ian Thornhill scored his first goal of the season after some good wing play from Darren Fry. Top scorer Kevin Rapley also added a goal after Ian Thornhill chased a long ball rounded the oncoming keeper and played it to Dave who passed to Kevin who then cooly stroked the ball home from inside the box.
Chalfont Old Boys were restricted to only three chances of note, two of which were long shots which both hit the cross bar but eventually cleared and there was a further worrying moment when Julian pulled off a good save and Paul Ali attempted to blast the ball clear which then bounced off Julian’s back towards the goal but Chris Price managed to clear the ball off the line.
The main threat from Chalfont was well shackled by the close marking of Sean Kearns and Tony Poacher. Half time saw a rampant Gunners lead 4 - 0.
Unfortunately Gunners could not maintain their fine form of the first half and Chalfont had a little more possession in the second half. However, they only managed a couple of chances of note and for the second game running Gunners kept a clean sheet. The team did manage to add a couple more goals both from Kevin Rapley who completed his hat trick to take his tally to 8 goals in three games.
Jon Weller was unlucky not to score his first goal for the club when the ball was passed across the face of the goal and Jon could not connect with the ball.
One point of criticism was the fact that Gunners had numerous corners but the quality of delivery was not good on the day. There were a couple of other interesting moments which included Chris Price's fantastic throw-on and when Dave Owen was literally rugby tackled by a frustrated opponent.
No further goals were added and Gunners were comfortable winners of the game and despite an average second half performance, the superb performance in the first half had already put the game beyond doubt. Man of the Match went to David Owen for an outstanding performance in midfield.
Match Facts
MOM : D Owen
Goals : K Rapley (3), P Clark (1), D Owen (1), I Thornhill (1)
Team : (GK) J Willis, (RB) C Price, (CB) Pa Ali, (CB) S Kearns, (LB) T Poacher, (RM) L Holdway, (CM) D Owen, (CM) P Clark, (LM) D Fry, (F) K Rapley, (F) I Thornhill, (Subs) J Weller, R Keyse, K Bunce
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