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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