Fourth Shift Res vs Earley Gunners 5 - 1

Match Report

Earley Gunners lost their final game of the season to hand Warwick Arms the league championship with a tame 5-1 defeat to a strong Fourth Shift side.

Fourth Shift had the better of the chances in the opening period but Gunners were still in the game at half time with the score at 0—0.

In the second half Fourth Shift took the lead and then added a second before Neil Rumbold pulled one back for Gunners with a long range shot.

Fourth Shift added a third after some poor defending and Dave Owen had a great chance to narrow the lead when he was one on one with the keeper but the shot was saved and Fourth Shift took the ball down the other end of the field and added a fourth goal to take the game beyond Gunners reach.

Gunners had a couple of last attempts but really did not have the cutting edge up front to turn possession into goal scoring opportunities and Gunners were poor at the back.

Gunners gave away a fifth goal and the game ended as a 5—1 defeat and a poor way to end the season.

Match Facts

Goal : N Rumbold (1)

Team

Warwick Arms vs Earley Gunners 3 - 2

Match Report

Earley Gunners blew their chances of the league title with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of close rivals Warwick Arms.

The team got off to a bad start when Warwick took a 2-0 lead in the first half.

Their first goal came from a poor clearance and Warwick played the ball down the left and their top scorer raced in to finish from inside the box. The second goal came from a break down the left when the left winger finished from close range.

Despite the poor start Gunners continued to battle and were rewarded with a goal. Paul Ali chipped the ball over the opposing defence and Dave Owen outpaced the defenders and scored to make the score 2-1 at half time.

The second half saw the introduction of Tony Poacher for his first appearance for a couple of months. Unfortunately, Gunners conceded another early goal when Warwick earned a free kick outside the box. The free kick was not held by the keeper and the ball went into the net to make it 3-1.

Gunners continued to work hard but the performance was disjointed with the team rarely putting some good passing moves together. However, Dave Owen gave Gunners some hope with a second goal.

As the clock continued to tick by , Gunners pushed more men forward leaving the game played from end to end.

Warwick were unlucky when they hit the cross bar from a break and Gunners went close from a Paul Clark header.

Unfortunately the clock ran out and a dejected Gunners team had lost 3-2 to virtually end their hopes of winning the Division 1 title.

Match Facts

Goals : D Owen (2)

Team

Earley Gunners vs Saints 0 - 1

Match Report

Earley Gunners lost in the final of the Eddie Titchener Cup Final after an evenly contested game with Saints.

Saints started the better of the two teams and had more of the early pressure and Julian Willis was called into action to make a couple of saves.

Then Gunners began to get more of the play and although the team relied on the long ball too much they did create a couple of opportunities to score which the team failed to take. Gunners also had two direct free kicks from outside the edge of the box which should have caused the keeper more problems than they did.

After the end of the first half the score was 0 – 0 and Gunners had the better of the chances but had failed to score.

The second half continued in the same way as the first with both defences being on top and chances were kept to a minimum.

With about 15 minutes to go, Saints opened the scoring when they made a low cross on the Gunners right which went across the face of the goal and was put in at the far post. This spurred Gunners into action and then team dominated the last ten minutes but could not deliver the final ball to create a decent scoring opportunity.

Time ran out for Gunners and the final result was a 1 – 0 defeat.

Fraser McNaughton was Gunners "Man of the Match" for a dominant display at left back.

Match Facts

MOM : F McNaughton

Team

Pictures