vs Sir William Peel Sunday (H)

With today's opposition sitting just above us in the table (having played the same amount of games against an equally mixed bag of teams) it was important that we continued our relatively good league form against what would probably be one of the division's stronger sides.

With only a couple of changes from previous weeks' starting line-up - no Jeff saw Trevor taking charge of goalkeeping duties and Nick Hurd stepped in at right-back in place of the absent Jason Williams - and with an in-form forward line of James, Russell, Dan & Sam expectations for a positive result were high.

The early stages of the first half were a little scrappy and quite pacey and saw the Devvy having the best of the exchanges. Once again the front four (with Richie and Simon in able support) were causing the somewhat immobile SWPFC defence all sorts of problems. As a result, within twenty minutes the Devvy had secured a deserved two goal lead - close strikes from James and Sam - against a Sir William Peel side that seemed somewhat 'shellshocked' at the persistent Devvy attack.

As the half progressed, however, SWPFC starting playing with more composure and began testing the Devvy back four with some accurate passing and more incisive running. And with the end of the first period in sight were rewarded with a goal after some good work down the left wing.

Half-time: DAFC 2 - 1 Sir William Peel FC.

The second half started in much the same way as the first had finished with SWPFC exerting a good deal of pressure on the Devvy midfield and defence. Nonetheless, the Devvy were hanging on to the lead with a combination of gritty determination and good fortune and were still causing a few problems in the SWPFC penalty box.

The final fifteen minutes of the game saw the SWPFC all but encamped in the Devvy half with late substitutions providing fresh attacking options that, in truth, we struggled to contain. And with about ten minutes to go SWPFC capitalized on all their possession and scored a well worked equalizer.

Full-time: DAFC 2 - 2 Sir William Peel FC.

Gaffa's Thoughts...
We had a great start to the game and I think it's fair to say that SWPFC didn't know what hit them in the first fifteen to twenty minutes and that we more than deserved our two goal lead. Allowing them little time on the ball, anticipating players runs and effective tackling seemed to put them in a state of disarray that lesser sides wouldn't have recovered from.

However, recover they did and I put this down to their strong desire to get back into the game and the difficulty we had in stopping them from doing so.

Although I have few complaints with regard to much of our attacking play and our dedication to defending we were found slightly wanting when it came to organization and fitness. I hope that consistent team selection and individual dedication will go some way to eradicating this situation in future. I feel special mention must go to man of the match Trevor who did sterling work in defending his goal. This said, the whole team performance was encouraging simply because of the work ethic and solidarity that was evident for the full ninety minutes. And I know that both subs, Tiny Jay and G, were both itching to get on the pitch and were only unfortunate not to because of the finely balanced nature of the game. But they will get their chance and continue to provide the Devvy with a strength in depth previously unavailable to us.

Lastly, I think it's worth noting that, although SWPFC were in the ascendancy for much of the second half, their skipper could be heard (straight after they had equalized) encouraging his players to 'settle for the point' which says a great deal about a DAFC side who can and will punish sides who make the mistake of underestimating our potential.

And in order to have a successful season we just have to ensure we fulfill it.

Devonshire Arms Line up:
GK: Trevor Marsh
RB: Nick Hurd
CB: Mike Davis
CB: David Brooks
LB: Nick Webb
CM: Simon Hall
CM: Richie Fenn
RM: Russell Boltryk
LM: James Matthews
CF: Sam Queeley
CF: Dan Fisk
Subs not used: Jason Stonebridge, Guiseppe

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