Long Eaton United ( under 14 ) v Pegasus Blue (under 14) 05/02/2011

In this second versus third in the table clash Pegasus needed a win to consolidate their automatic promotion spot, and they did just that quite comfortably, at the very windy Grange Park ground.
In the first 30 seconds Pegasus almost took the lead, as Rice found himself in the clear, lobbing the keeper, but his effort was cleared off the line by a covering defender. On 10 minutes the home side had their first chance of the match, a right wing cross, caught in the wing and fell luckily to a striker who really should have scored, but fired wide. The strong cross field wind was causing all sorts of problems for both teams. On 13 minutes Pegasus took the lead, with the ball bouncing around in the area , it was half cleared to the edge of the box, Aaron Price latched onto it and smashed it into the goal from 20 yards. Pegasus continued to dominate and create chances, on 23 minutes Winfield blazed over, then on 24, 27 and 29 minutes Rice missed golden opportunities, first delaying his shot and allowing the defender to make a tackle, then scuffing his shot wide of the left hand post when clean through and then with almost a replay again dragged his shot wide. But despite missing those chances, Rice did not hide, and eventually got his reward.

Half time: Long Eaton United 0 - 1 Pegasus Blue

Pegasus continued pouring forward, and in the first minutes of the half were a whisker away from scoring, Warburton released Rice, whose shot was well blocked by the keeper. From the resulting left wing corner the ball fell to Cerutti who thundered it against the bar. A minute later Rice was through again, this time he lifted the ball over the keeper, but unfortunately for him and Pego over the bar as well. On 40 minutes disaster struck, against the run of play United broke, a left wing cross held up in the wind and fell to a Long Eaton striker to nod home. It took only 2 minutes for Pegasus to restore their lead, a poor kick out of the home keeper’s hands fell straight to George Mole, 30 yards out and with still a lot to do, killed the ball then lobbed it back over the keeper and into goal. From that moment Pegasus never looked back. On 46 minutes it was 1 – 3, a long diagonal ball by Dunn from left to right, a headed flick on by Gillard and volleyed home emphatically by Adam Rice. He had now got the bit between his teeth and on 50 minutes raced through again, this time smashing the ball over the bar. On 52 minute a flowing move involving Price and Wright, ended with Ben Wright curling a shot against the far post. A minute later Rice breached the defence again, dancing around several players, this time the keeper saved bravely diving at his feet. On 53 minutes Pegasus extended their lead, Winfield won the ball in his own 18 yard box, took several strides forward before hitting a beautiful ball to release Adam Rice, this time he finished confidently to make it 1 – 4.
On 57 minutes it was 1 – 5, Cerutti collected the ball and threaded it through to Rice again, who side footed into the bottom right corner to complete his hat-trick. With only 5 minutes of the match remaining Rice grabbed his fourth and the visitors sixth after a defender could only flick on a long ball straight into his path, he was forced wide, but still drilled a shot into the far corner. A great performance against the team immediately below them.

Full time: Long Eaton United 1 - 6 Pegasus Blue

MOM – Aaron Price – A great man-marking job on the giant no 7 in the first half, then a solid second half defensive display