1st X1 Match Report

FDMC Central Finance (3) v FC Western (2)

MORGAN HALL GRABS A DESERVED WINNER!!

FDMC Central Finance faced tough opponents in FC Western, who were obviously bouyed with the confidence of a shock 3-0 away win aginst Inglewood last week and following their first defeat of the season it was the home side who had everything to prove.

After some heavy downpours, the pitch was holding up well but still presented both teams with a challenging environment to adapt too. FDMC edged there way into a game that started brightly enough but saw a number of early exchanges that set the tone for a niggly first half of football. The home team played tentatively and although competing well, seemed to lack the ability to impose themselves on the game.

Patches of neat football in midfield led to a number of opportunities to open up the visitors defence but they failed to exploit good attacking opportunities and lacked that trade mark killer instinct in the last third. Despite not really being troubled in open play, it was the visiting team that took an early lead by latching on to a rebound from a corner kick that goal keeper Stefan WALSH failed to hold on to. FC Western extended their lead from a direct free kick minutes later and could count themselves extremely fortunate to be 2-0 up going into half time - a scoreline that certainly did not reflect the run of play.

With a mountain to climb in the second half, FDMC turned up the pressure immediately and took control of the game in every area of the pitch. In the centre of midfield, Lance MOLYNEAUX and Domenico SQUATRITI dominated posession and used width to stretch a quickly tiring FC Western team. Penetrating movement and swift attacking options created a significant period of pressure and it was Domenico SQUATRITI who exploited an opportunity to grab the first goal with a well taken header at the back post. It was SQUATRITI who was instrumental again in a second goal, seeing his header come back off the cross bar for MOSQUERA to convert - only for the latter player to be mysteriously jusged off side.

Domenico SQUATRITI had a hand in setting up the equaliser moments later when he won a great header in the penalty area that fell into the path of MOSQUERA, who made no mistake sliding the ball into the corner of the net. Sam SUTTON started to influence the game more and more as he joined in a number of attacks down the left hand side and he put in a sequence of testing crosses that FC Western just managed to scramble away.

The pressure really started to tell in the last 15 minutes and because FC Western lacked posession and territory, it seemed only a matter of time before they conceded again. After some neat build up play in midfield, involving a number of players, a through ball fell to Morgan HALL who dashed between two defenders to slot home the winner from close range - just reward for a very controlled and dominant second half performance.

FDMC Central Finance bounced back brilliantly to win a game that could have easily slipped away and in doing so retained the Challenge Trophy and secured another three points. The team also maintain second place, four points clear of Hawera in third place and eight points clear of Inglewood in fourth.

Next week will see the eagerly awaited top of the table clash away to Waitara in a game that FDMC must win if they are to apply any real pressure on the current league leaders and give themselves an outside chance of gaining top spot.