Lee Rangers 4-4 Chandlers Ford Youth
Mid Solent Under 15 B – 1st November 2008
Line up: Kane Kellaway, Josh Harrigan ©, Jake Beattie, Michael Sawbridge, David Kilcoyne, Zak Pickett, Tom Ashton, Ahmed Sfagsi, David Bromhead, Michael Wall, Jozef Montigue.
Subs: Kelvin Bagot, Ryan Chinn, Miles Hodge, Liam Godfrey
On the back of some terrific wins and performances in the league, Chandlers Ford came to Lee Rangers in the miserable weather conditions upbeat and full of confidence.
This showed in their play as they were knocking the ball around extremely well and playing excellent football at times.
David Bromhead earned himself a starting place after his two goals the previous week, and didn't disappoint as he fired Ford into a 1-0 lead with a lovely finish after a good team move and a splendid pass from Tom Ashton.
Not content with this, David doubled both his and Ford's tally with the second goal soon after with another well taken goal rounding off a fine move.
Chandlers Ford went 3-0 up through leading goalscorer Michael Wall who latched on to a long through ball to lob the ball over the goalkeeper and find the net from the edge of the area.
Kane Kellaway meanwhile was in fine form making a number of brave saves more than doing his part in ensuring his side stayed in control.
The game turned however when Kane took a knock as he tried to stop a Rangers forward at the edge of his penalty box. The referee didn't see the foul as the player continued by rolling the ball into an empty net as Kane was sprawled across the floor in need of treatment.
This goal gave Rangers a way back into the game as Richard was forced into his first change with Kelvin coming on to replace Kane in between the sticks.
In a change of fortunes, Ford conceded a soft second goal as Rangers powered their way through the Blues defence to beat Kelvin.
It looked as though Ford might just have restored a two-goal cushion minutes before half time as Jozef Montigue won a penalty kick when he was brought down by the goalkeeper as he poked the ball past him.
Up-stepped Jake Beattie, but this time the usually confident penalty-taker blasted straight down the middle with power from 12 yards, but it was a straight forward save for the goalkeeper who celebrated the save wildly.
HALF TIME: Lee Rangers 2-3 CFY
The importance of the next goal in the game could not be reiterated enough, as one more slip up from Ford would see Rangers right back in it, level having been totally outplayed and out of the game at 3-0 down inside the opening 25 minutes.
Michael Sawbridge was extremely unfortunate to have a clear goal from a free kick ruled out within the opening five minutes of the second half. It was clear that things were just not going for them now, what with the injury to Kane, missing a penalty and now a disallowed goal.
Going for goal from way out, Michael picked out the top corner with a beautifully struck set piece that sailed past the keeper and into goal. A very dubious offside decision against Liam, who was anything but interfering with play, and even then the ball went straight in without touching another player – however frustrating, the decision was made.
Typically, Rangers drew level to make the ruled out 'goal' situation even more frustrating.
A drop ball 25 yards from the Ford goal was won by the Lee Rangers forward who got the ball down and struck a speculative effort towards goal catching Kelvin out with the swirling wind. The freak effort looked to be going comfortably over the cross bar, but the ball dipped wildly and ended up in the back of the net to cancel out Ford's terrific efforts when they were 3-0 up.
Just when Ford thought that things couldn't get much worse, they fell behind for the first time in the game. A strong looking challenge on Kelvin was deemed to be fair and from there it was just a case of tapping the ball into an empty, unguarded goal.
This enthralling encounter took another twist and this time it was finally in Chandlers Ford's favour as Lee Rangers were reduced to ten men for hotly protesting a decision that was awarded for yet another heavy lunge in on the goalkeeper. The tackle alone, in my view, was one that warranted a straight red.
Chandlers Ford could sense that if they were to get something from the game, that this was their best opportunity yet and went all out attack in the final five minutes to salvage a point at the very least.
Getting out of jail for their defensive mistakes and letting a 3-0 lead vanish, became a reality when Michael Sawbridge moved into attack and turned the ball home with a great strike to spare his side's blushes and keep their unbeaten streak in tact.
FULL TIME: Lee Ranger 4-4 CFY
Man of the match: Michael Sawbridge
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