Earley Gunners vs Good Companions 0 - 1

Match Report

Good Companions earned a narrow victory over Earley Gunners with a 1 - 0 win.

The pitch conditions were poor being rock hard in the middle and extremely soft on the wings and this made it particularly difficult for both teams to play the ball on the ground.

Good Companions were slightly the better team in the first half and Gunners looked disorganised for the first twenty minutes, Good Companions were eventually rewarded when the took the lead midway through the first half.

Gunners did have a couple of chances and the Good Companions keeper made an excellent close range save from Bill Maslin.

In the second half Gunners really failed to create many clear cut chances and a well organised Good Companions defence kept Gunners at bay.

Despite Gunners committing more players forward they failed to penetrate the Good Companions defence.

The final score was a disappointing 1 - 0 win to the opposition.

Gunners "Man of the Match" was Leon Spyrou for a good game in right midfield, he was closely followed by Matt Rees who had a good game in the midfield after a long layoff.

Match Facts

MOM : L Spyrou

Team

Earley Gunners vs West End 5 - 1

Match Report

Earley Gunners were convincing winners over West End in their first game for a few weeks. Gunners scored a goal after 5 seconds after Bill Maslin finished off a neat passing move from kick off. He soon added a second a few minutes later.

Bill Maslin completed his hat-trick by half time and John Monksmith added a goal to give Gunners a 4-0 lead at half time. Gunners could not continue the momentum in the second half and failed to take their chances in front of goal.

They added a fifth goal from Matt Walker who headed in from a corner before West End scored a late consolation goal in the last few minutes when a hopeful cross went in over the keeper. The final score was a 5-1 win.

Gareth Akers was Gunners "Man of the Match".

Match Facts

MOM : G Akers

Goals : B Maslin (3), J Monksmith (1), M Walker (1)

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Woodley Roofing vs Earley Gunners 2 - 2

Match Report

Woodley Roofing dropped their first points of the season to Earley Gunners when they were held to a 2-2 draw. Gunners had a close shave when a Roofing player went down in the box after a Paul Ali tackle to the cries of a penalty but the referee (correctly!) awarded a corner.

It was Gunners who took the lead after Bill Maslin played John Monksmith through who ran towards the goal and his well struck shot was parried into the goal by the keeper. Roofing struck back before half time when their player was brought down by Paul Marten in the box and this time they were awarded a penalty which they converted. The half time score was 1-1.

The second half was as even as the first with both sides coming close to taking the lead. Gunners had a scare when a Roofing corner went across the face of the goal untouched by all the players.

However, Woodley Roofing made amends when they headed in from a corner with about 20 minutes to go to give them a narrow lead. Dave Owen had a couple of chances to score with a few shots from outside the box. Gunners pushed men forward and got their reward when Paul Clark was brought down in the box.

Paul Ali subsequently converted the penalty to leave the final score at 2-2. It was a good team performance and a fair result overall, however Gunners "Man of the Match" was Julian Willis for a good performance including some good handling. The standard of refereeing was excellent today.

Match Facts

MOM : J Willis

Goals : Pa Ali (1), J Monksmith (1)

Team

Earley Gunners vs Earley HG Res 2 - 1

Match Report

Earley Gunners gained some degree of revenge after an early season defeat against Earley HG res with a 2-1 win. The pitch conditions made it difficult for both sides to play good football particularly on the wings which were extremely boggy but Gunners settled the better of the teams and dominated the first half against a strong looking Earley HG side.

Dave Owen opened the scoring after a mazy run took him past a few players and he finished with a well struck left foot shot from outside the box and then top scorer Bill Maslin who was working hard up front made it 2-0 before half time after some he chased a lost cause and finished from close range.

The whole team played very well in the first half and out fought the opposition in all areas of the field and limited them to a couple of chances and whilst some of the defensive play was not pretty, it was effective. In attack Gunners looked better when they were playing first time passes and carved open the opposition on several occasions.

The half time score was 2-0 to Gunners.

The second half was even with the opposition changing their formation to cope with the Gunners onslaught. They were more effective in the second half and were rewarded when they clawed back a goal a close range header.

Gunners created several good chances but failed to score the extra goal to give them a cushion. In the last few minutes, Julian Willis made a good save from a long range effort which he tipped over the bar to keep Gunners lead.

In the last few minutes an injury to Matt Rees after all the subs had been used saw the team reduced to 10 men for the last five minutes. Despite virtually constant pressure for the last couple of minutes, Gunners held out to earn the win.

This was a very good team performance and the whole team battled very well to earn the win against a stronger Earley HG side than we would normally face. (as their first team game looks like it was cancelled and they had about 10 subs on the line)

It appeared some of the "reserve" players who were dropped had great fun in abusing their first teamers who got a worse result against Gunners than their reserve side.

Paul Ali was Gunners "Man of the Match" for an impressive defensive performance, closely followed by Julian Willis.

Match Facts

MOM : Pa Ali

Goals : B Maslin (1), D Owen (1)

Team

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