Earley 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
Pictures
