Match Reports

B Team	vs	Sneyd B’s
		Saturday September 18 2021
The opening game of the Clifton St. Vincent's B’s new campaign came against none other than the old enemy. A glorious day for football with a very light breeze and plenty of sunshine, there was no room for excuses about the conditions ! The match started at lively pace with both teams trying to unlock each other’s defence early. Newbies Joe Stewart at left back , and Jake Mooney in CM , looked comfortable playing with their new team mates for the first time. The back line of Stewart , Downes, Scanlon and Lopez-Bland dealt with the long ball from Sneyd very well and it was clear this was Sneyd’s preferred means of attack. Mid way through the half Stanleigh pinged a through ball for Carvell to chase down. The Sneyd keeper rushed out to meet the ball but Carvell got their first and from a bit of an angle slotted the ball past him and it rolled into the empty net. 1-0 Clifton St. Vincent's ! The B’s looked confident now and were playing some nice football with Finney and Ellet on the wings trying to get forward and support Carvell and Todd up top. With 5-10 mins left Sneyd won a free kick mid way into the Clifton St. Vincent's half. They lofted it into the area where some mis-communication meant Scanlon went to head it but it flicked the wrong way and passed Clifton St. Vincent's keeper Adrian Cooper who had rushed out to try and punch it. 1-1 ! Clifton St. Vincent's heads didn’t drop and recognising they were the better team pressed forwards again. With just a few minutes to go to the half , a long throw into the Sneyd area found Stanleigh who cushioned the ball down to the feet of Carvell who from a tight angle swung a left peg and the ball flew into the bottom corner. 2-1 Clifton St. Vincent's ! The second half provided more of the same theme. Clifton St. Vincent's were dominating and seemed to have better energy than Sneyd, who continued to look for their pacey forward with long balls into the space behind the back 4. Clifton St. Vincent's were growing into the game though and created a few chances that on another day would have created goals. Ellet was played in and saw his shot wide. Finney and Scanlon both had headers from corners narrowly glide over the bar. The moment to really seal it came when Todd used lovely close control in the area to draw a foul from the Sneyd defence…..penalty ! Stanleigh’s effort hit the post however the ref quickly ordered a re-take due to a Sneyd player blatantly encroaching. The second chance wasn’t taken either as the Keeper guessed the right way and palmed it away to safety. Shortly after Clifton St. Vincent's won a free kick from about 25 yards. Todd placed a low curling effort towards goal and was very unlucky not to score, but credit to the Sneyd keeper who tipped it around the post for a corner. With 10-15 minutes to go Sneyd lost two players to injury / fatigue and so without anymore subs were forced to play with 10 men. Clifton St. Vincent's were in full control now pegging Sneyd back into their own half , although they did cause a couple of scares when they hit the long ball for their lone striker who won throw ins deep into the Clifton St. Vincent's half. Nerves were jangling as the long throw sent the ball deep into the Clifton St. Vincent's area but was dealt with by Downes and Scanlon respectively. The final whistle soon came and Clifton St. Vincent's secured a much deserved 3 points. An excellent effort and attitude from all players. MoM was a close call between Carvell and Scanlon , however it was awarded to Scanlon for a dominant CB performance winning everything in the air. A special thanks to Stu King and Dale Fitzsimmons for being unused substitutes and showing great humility in what was such a narrow score line that it was decided not to make any changes. Line up - A Cooper , J Stewart, T Downes, J Scanlon, M Lopez-Bland, S Ellet , M Stanleigh, J Mooney, L Finney , R Todd , M Carvell , S King , D Fitzsimmons

A Team	vs	Helios
		Saturday September 18 2021
A solid start with flashes of quality was undone by a 15 minute collapse half way through the 2nd half, which saw the A's go from a comfortable 2-0 up to a painful 3-2 defeat.  A walkover on the first weekend of the season courtesy of Sporting Greyhound Res had provided the A's with 3 points before they'd kicked a ball and despite some availability issues of our own we went into the game with some decent pre-season performances behind us and reasonable expectations of a title challenge come the end of the season.  The first half, although a little scrappy,  saw the A's largely on top. The back four of Miller, M.Wride, Campbell and Hodder prevented any real Helios threat and going forwards we slowly began to piece together some incisive moves, particularly when we got the ball wide early to Lawrence and Hornby.  This finally paid off towards the end of the first half when good work down the left from Lawrence, fed the ball into D.Wride who turned sharply inside the Helios box and struck past the Helios keeper. HT 1-0.  The second half began in similar fashion, solid, too inconsistent in possession but ultimately under little threat. Mid way through the 2nd half a Davies corner whipped to the back post landed straight at Crutchlow's feet and he had an easy finish for 2-0. It was at this point that our shape and the scoreline went rapidly downhill. Within what felt like a minute of the restart Helios had pulled one back. We failed to deal with a long ball which then bounced awkwardly and the Helios striker - their only real threat - bundled in.  From here on Helios hit everything skyward and collectively we struggled winning much, if any, 2nd ball and clearing our lines. Backs to the wall for 15 minutes... and with a succession of long throws and corners we came unstruck twice. Which caps a recent dip in games in dealing with set pieces as an 11 - something critical to resolve. A 3-2 defeat. But it wasn't all bad and at times we showed some real quality, however we'll need to be consistent in getting the basics right if we're really going to challenge for a title. Early days. Massive post game frustration but confident in the ability we've got and the drive to get back up to the standards we've set in previous seasons.

Reserve Team	vs	Torpedo Reserves
		Saturday September 18 2021
After a very difficult week regarding player availability the Reserves eventually took the field with the bare 11. Early exchanges were fairly even with both sides playing some good football. As the game progressed Torpedo looked the more threatening and were causing the Clifton St. Vincent's defence some concerns. However, Clifton St. Vincent's took the lead towards the end of the first and against the run of play through a well taken volley by Seamus Mooney on his debut. Torpedo hit back early in the second half as both sides tried to play some good football. Clifton St. Vincent's continued to work hard and were rewarded by a well taken goal by Tom Brennand following a good cross from the right. It was fairly end to end stuff at this stage with Torpedo continuing to play their normal good approach football and Clifton St. Vincent's trying to hit them on the break. Torpedo were rewarded with an equaliser following a mix up in the Clifton St. Vincent's defence and looked as though they could possibly go on to win the game. However, Clifton St. Vincent's had other ideas and seemingly out of the blue found themselves in the lead when a glancing header from Courtney McIntosh found the back of the Torpedo net. The game continued to follow a similar pattern throughout with both sides contributing their own brand of football to what was an interesting contest. The win was eventually secured by a late goal from man of the match Tom Brennand who found himself in the right place at the right time to nod in a header from close range. In summary Clifton St. Vincent's worked hard and stuck to their task despite obvious fatigue towards the end of the game. This may well prove to be a very good 3 points earned come the end of the season. Not pretty but effective on occasions but still a lot of work to do.

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