Announcement
by Steve Morgan
It was great weather to play soccer in, but unfortunately the rain from the previous night was still lurking on Sportsman's Field - to the extent that a couple of small children were almost certainly lost in the quagmire left behind for games later on in the morning. The good news: nobody liked those kids very much anyway..... ;-)
Poor surfaces and challenging playing conditions often act as a natural leveller, but the game eventually turned out to be even more imbalanced than the strange final 3-6 scoreline suggests.
PAC had already demonstrated that they play well as an attacking force in their home game and were again at their best when pushing forward through their classy central midfielders. Lowell initially took the lead twenty minutes into the first half when a home attack broke down high on Bedford's right flank. The ball was swiftly moved upfield where the then overstreteched defence were unable to prevent an unmarked attacker arriving at the far post to sidefoot home.
Within five minutes, Scott Vaughan's sheer persistence (and not a little luck) was able to capitalise on indecision in Lowell's rearguard and, with both teams struggling to deal with the sticky pitch, the halftime score was level at 1-1.
However, Bedford were not playing well either individually or collectively and continued to be second best in winning control of the ball against a team with more drive and edge to their game. Lowell steadily adapted to the difficult conditions and unfortunately it didn't take long for their second goal to come. A firm low cross was shipped to the far edge of the six yard box from the right wing and an attacker was quickest to meet the ball, giving Bedford's keeper no chance. To add injury to insult, Doug had to retire from the game shortly afterwards with a pulled muscle and Dave Crespo gamely took over between the sticks for the remaining thirty minutes. Lucky old Dave, eh?
The usually solid Bedford midfield was soon being run ragged in the mud and within a quarter of an hour the score had ramped up to 5-1 to the vistors: a left footed shot to the bottom corner; a looping header to the right; and a very well struck shot into the top right-hand corner from twenty yards out. There was little Dave or the defence could do under such a barrage: Lowell were simply dictating and playing the game exactly the way they wanted to and Bedford were not a set of happy bunnies.
There was time for a couple of false recoveries with Jimmy McCall scoring an elegant solo goal on a rare breakaway starting from the halfway line and Bassem gamely capitalising on a curious Lowell goalkick either side of a sixth scrambled away goal. The fatal wound had already been inflicted though.
Joe Parrinello adroitly took out an advancing Lowell attacker very late on in the game, only for the ensuing penalty to be saved by Dave seemingly on the edge of his six yard box, but no-one got particularly excited as the destination for the points had already been decided.
For the record: Steve Morgan was decidedly not Ace this week. It could be argued that some of the puddles had a better game so he must really have been totally minging. eh?!
Lowell sit pretty in one of the two promotion spots and Bedford, well, they're one of the two ugly sisters fighting for scraps at the bottom of the table.
If Bedford still aspire to have a Cinderella moment, they'll need to do something with the ball before midnight.....and it's getting late.
" Everyone's entitled to my opinion."
Madonna
It was great weather to play soccer in, but unfortunately the rain from the previous night was still lurking on Sportsman's Field - to the extent that a couple of small children were almost certainly lost in the quagmire left behind for games later on in the morning. The good news: nobody liked those kids very much anyway..... ;-)
Poor surfaces and challenging playing conditions often act as a natural leveller, but the game eventually turned out to be even more imbalanced than the strange final 3-6 scoreline suggests.
PAC had already demonstrated that they play well as an attacking force in their home game and were again at their best when pushing forward through their classy central midfielders. Lowell initially took the lead twenty minutes into the first half when a home attack broke down high on Bedford's right flank. The ball was swiftly moved upfield where the then overstreteched defence were unable to prevent an unmarked attacker arriving at the far post to sidefoot home.
Within five minutes, Scott Vaughan's sheer persistence (and not a little luck) was able to capitalise on indecision in Lowell's rearguard and, with both teams struggling to deal with the sticky pitch, the halftime score was level at 1-1.
However, Bedford were not playing well either individually or collectively and continued to be second best in winning control of the ball against a team with more drive and edge to their game. Lowell steadily adapted to the difficult conditions and unfortunately it didn't take long for their second goal to come. A firm low cross was shipped to the far edge of the six yard box from the right wing and an attacker was quickest to meet the ball, giving Bedford's keeper no chance. To add injury to insult, Doug had to retire from the game shortly afterwards with a pulled muscle and Dave Crespo gamely took over between the sticks for the remaining thirty minutes. Lucky old Dave, eh?
The usually solid Bedford midfield was soon being run ragged in the mud and within a quarter of an hour the score had ramped up to 5-1 to the vistors: a left footed shot to the bottom corner; a looping header to the right; and a very well struck shot into the top right-hand corner from twenty yards out. There was little Dave or the defence could do under such a barrage: Lowell were simply dictating and playing the game exactly the way they wanted to and Bedford were not a set of happy bunnies.
There was time for a couple of false recoveries with Jimmy McCall scoring an elegant solo goal on a rare breakaway starting from the halfway line and Bassem gamely capitalising on a curious Lowell goalkick either side of a sixth scrambled away goal. The fatal wound had already been inflicted though.
Joe Parrinello adroitly took out an advancing Lowell attacker very late on in the game, only for the ensuing penalty to be saved by Dave seemingly on the edge of his six yard box, but no-one got particularly excited as the destination for the points had already been decided.
For the record: Steve Morgan was decidedly not Ace this week. It could be argued that some of the puddles had a better game so he must really have been totally minging. eh?!
Lowell sit pretty in one of the two promotion spots and Bedford, well, they're one of the two ugly sisters fighting for scraps at the bottom of the table.
If Bedford still aspire to have a Cinderella moment, they'll need to do something with the ball before midnight.....and it's getting late.
" Everyone's entitled to my opinion."
Madonna
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