Match report
Cowfold Reserves vs Rudgwick Firsts:

It was a cold and windy day down at the Steyning FC Community ground, not the ideal situations for a game of football, but we did what railway men do the best, get on with it. The boys had a few odd comments whilst getting changed and warming up. One that particularly stuck with me was Shane’s comment “My game has so much gyle”. No idea what it means or if that’s exactly what was said but a bit of a weird one nonetheless. The infamous rondo was started and the man to the right rule was in full effect as pairs of players popped in and out the middle. One time, at band camp, Kempy found himself in the middle and somehow took a chomp out of the white mitre, which later saw him get WotW.

Game kicked out and we looked good on the ball, playing good passes keeping it tight defensively, knocking it about a bit and looking like we have been playing on a gigantic 4g pitch all season. A few communicative mishaps led to their right winger drifting into the centre of the park and having a lot of space to run with. After the nerves had settled, the right winger had enough time to run at the inexperienced left back and he stepped when he should have leaving Shrek to run down the wing and put a ball in which was slotted home. 1-0 Cowfold.
The rest of the half was dominated in possession by Rudgwick keeping the ball very nicely but not doing much with it in the final third of the pitch. A few scrappy passages of play led to their swamp native to get booked for steamrolling anyone.

Half time: Cowfold 1-0 Rudgwick
The team talk was simple, more of the same domination in possession, and keep playing the ball around in their half of the pitch, keeping them pinned back and minimalising the threat.

The second half starts and the calmness on the ball from the boys in burgundy continues like there was no break. Zipping the ball across the park with no issues, playing simple and upon losing it, battling hard to win the ball back and continue to dominate the game. I cannot remember exactly what happened but during the second half, Lockwood had a lashing volley at the back post which the Cowfold keeper saved by luck more than anything.

A few shots from range from Williams (J) and the other CM’s throughout the half with a lack of success.
Despite the fact of keeping possession for most of the game, we seemed to continue to launch the ball high and made it difficult for Blick (M) to control, which nullified the majority of our attacks.

The substitutes who came on did make an impact on the game, Ali, who came on for Williams (J), proceeded to impose himself straight away, getting on the ball and playing some good passes. Blick (S) who came on pretty early in the game due to Greig obtaining a head injury, did a hell of a lot of running and put a good shift in. The iconic wizard Whitworth made an appearance as Shane, picked up a knock early on in the game, clashed with the ogre for the last time before coming off. Another knock was picked up as Williams (R) was struggling with a foot injury, replaced by Kempy who came on as we changed the formation around to push him further forward. Walshe also implemented himself during the time he was on the pitch, his close control and understanding of the game making it look easy in the congested middle.
Another counter-attack for them, going against the run of play, which left their tricky number 8 to slot home after sliding on the along the floor, inches away from a Kempy chomp. 2-0 Cowfold.

Proceeded to knock on the door for the remainder of the game but to no avail. Ref blows the whistle. Game ended 2-0.