Saturday 12th February 2011

East Valley United U14 v Pegasus Blue U14

On a cool and breezy afternoon at Southglade Leisure Centre Pegasus faced what proved to be a tense match against East Valley.

Within 5 minutes Adam Rice was facing an open goal but some interference prevented him from scoring. On 8 minutes a tackle from behind took Aaron Price out of the game with what was later found to be serious ligament damage to his ankle and this seemed to set the tone for the rest of the match.

In the few minutes when many were still looking after Aaron a free kick taken from 18 yards by Adam Rice allowed Billy Warburton to tap the ball home and the visitors were 1-0 up.

On 11 minutes Daniel Gillard had a chance at goal but went over the bar, then on 13 minutes the home team equalised following a mistake in defence and a lob over Jack Bales.

On 15 minutes Pegasus had a chance from a free kick taken by Jack Winfield which went over the bar and another chance on 25 minutes when, despite some great foot work, Billy Warburton failed to score.

Half time East Valley 1, Pegasus Blue 1

On 38 minutes Cellan Brady got a shot on goal which was saved by the keeper, rapidly followed by a free kick from a foul on Adam Rice which was defended well.

On 45 minutes some great 1 to 1 technical play from James Cerutti and Adam Rice once again failed to achieve the desired result. On 51 minutes the visiting supporters thought their team had gone ahead but the goal was disallowed due to a decision with some question as to whether the ball had gone out of play.

Both teams were battling in the face of some hard to understand decisions (by the referee) but at last in the 70th minute Pegasus’ hard work paid off when some great control by George Mole allowed Adam Rice to score Pegasus’ second goal.

A tackle from behind on Fraser Dunn, which resulted in East Valley getting the free kick on the edge of the box, only increased the manager’s exasperation with the officials’ decisions, unfortunately resulting in a yellow card.

This seemed to rev the Pegasus team up for a final piece of outstanding action – the resulting free kick was headed by George Mole and cleared over the top by Billy Warburton, allowing Adam Rice to head off down the field at fantastic pace, pass the keeper and score a great individual goal.

The final whistle blew with the score 1-3 and a win for Pegasus, but it was hard to celebrate appropriately in view of the unfortunate atmosphere and the injury to one of our key players.

Full time: East Valley 1, Pegasus Blue 3

MOM – Sean Gordon – Defended with a cool head and a strong right boot.