Earley Gunners overcame Reading GM Buses with a 2 - 0 victory in the Treasurers Cup. Gunners continued to employ the 4-5-1 formation and they used the extra man in midfield to good effect by dominating possession.
The game was played in muddy conditions which made it more difficult to play decent football but Gunners adapted well and were in the ascendency in the first half when the team dominated possession and created several opportunities to score.
Gunners took the lead when Bill Maslin played a ball through to Paul Clark who opened the scoring in the first half. Reading GM Buses did cause a slight problem with their keepers long kicks keeping Gunners on the back foot, the majority of these were dealt with by the defence but Julian Willis was called into action on a couple of occasions and cleared his line well.
Gunners had several other opportunities to score but failed to capitalise and remained 1 - 0 ahead at half time. The second half followed the first with Gunners having more possession but failing to add the goals they needed to make the game secure.
Gunners did have a scare in the second half when Reading GM Buses hit the post with a well driven free-kick but Gunners made things more comfortable later in the game when Paul Clark set up Bill Maslin to score this time.
With two minutes to go, a bizzare event occured when the oppositions cross bar collapsed after the opposing keeper had been banging his boots on the post to clear the mud of his boots. With the consent of the opposition, the final whistle was blown early.
The final score was a 2 - 0 win to Gunners and it was a good defensive display from the team especially in the muddy conditions. The pick of the Gunners players was central defender Paul Marten who was Gunners "Man of the Match" closely followed by Julian Willis and Matt Rees.
Match Facts
MOM : P Marten
Goals : P Clark (1), B Maslin (1)
Team
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