vs Gloucester Arms (FRIENDLY)

Devonshire Arms Line up:
GK: Jeff
RB: Johnny English
CB: Andy Norbury
CB: David Brooks
LB: Nick Hurd
CM: Isaac
CM: Richie Fenn
RM: Jason Williams
LM: Trevor
CF: Shaun Murphy
CF: Dan Fisk
Subs: No subs

This was a game between 2 sides that had met on many previous occasions, previously they were aggressive games with a lot of goals, were the crowd in for a goal fest today?

Devonshire were short on numbers for todays game, mainly due to holidays, work commitments and lie ins, but the 11 on the pitch were determined not to go down without a fight, despite playing against a side that are managed by a premiership footballer.

The start of the game was somewhat dominated by Gloucester, playing some intricate midfield play, constantly trying to slip balls through to their front 2, sometimes over playing the ball as they looked for a breakthrough.

Somewhat against the run of play, Shaun Murphy went on a long solo run resulting in a corner, Isaac floated the ball in and Richie jumped with 2 defenders at the near post to head past the quickly approaching keeper, an excellent and very brave piece of football, 1-0 Devonshire Arms.

Gloucester were looking like they'd just gone out for 5 minutes and had their house burgled, Devonshire had stolen a true breakaway goal, but they were going to have to guard against complacency.

Some excellent defending followed, Brooks kept the normally very dangerous Jamie under wraps, Jonny had a lot of work on the right but him and Jason managed to reduce the threats. The Devonshire were starting to play some good football, an attacking move saw the ball rebound to Richie in the box and he calmly slipped it past the keeper for his and the Devonshire Arms' 2nd. 2-0 Devonshire Arms.

Devonshire were starting to play some good football, Dan saw a looping shot go just over, and goal line melee in which the Gloucester keeper spilled the ball almost resulting in the 3rd. As half time approached the Devonshire were playing some good football, Isaac and Richie were battling bravely in midfield and the team had a good spirit again, just before half time a tame shot came in from the edge of the area, Jeff grabbed the ball but in the wet slippery conditions it wriggled through his hands into an open net. 2-1 Devonshire Arms.

Half time

The 2nd half began brightly for Gloucester, they had would turn out to be their best chance of the game, a good move down the right saw both Johnny and Brooksy beaten for pace and the Gloucester midfielder was through on goal, but from close range he blasted over.

Mistakes were being made all over the pitch by Gloucester, the game they had hoped would be a walk in the park was turning out to be quite the opposite, Isaac was tackling bravely in midfield, whilst Nick and Trevor on the left were constantly up and down the flank, covering a lot of ground. The defence were up against it, the midfield were having to track back and attacking opportunities were limited. Andy and Brooks were playing the ball around at the back, Brooks played the ball up the line towards Dan, the keeper however got their first, but his attempted clearance hit Dan square in the jaw and the ball fell to Shaun Murphy, who slid the ball just inside the post, a fortunate goal but no more than the Devy deserved... 3-1 Devonshire Arms.

The last 10 minutes saw a huge push by Gloucester, the defence held their ground against numerous free kicks and corners, Jeff was now holding everything that came to him, it was backs against the wall time but the Devonshire Arms were up to it, the last game they lost 4-0 and they knew they had to show more spirit to win games, well they certainly did that today, an excellent performance by all involved.

Final Score - Devonshire Arms 3 - 1 Gloucester Arms

To report a correction of information or to send any comments or reports please email info@devonshirearmsfc.co.uk