Heroic Keeper provides wakeup call!!

Felixstowe Men’s 1st 2 - 2 Waltham Forest Men’s 1st

NE14 East Mens League - Division 1 - Saturday 14th January 2012

Felixstowe welcomed Waltham Forest to fortress Orwell for the first league game back after the Christmas break.  The away leg of this fixture saw Waltham Forest win 3-1 so the seasiders were keen for revenge and a continuation of the good form which had them at 6 games un-beaten.

Felixstowe started the game slowly and sloppily, with a number of passes going astray.  The Waltham Forest side, currently 3rd in the league, seized upon this and put pressure on the Felixstowe defence.  Within minutes they had won their first short corner, which although poorly executed, resulted in a penalty flick after striking a foot on the goal line.   The Waltham Forest striker stepped up confidently to take the flick, but saw his very good effort spectacularly saved by Andrew ‘Foggy’ Fothergill.  This was the wakeup call the Felixstowe players needed.  The passing became sharper, and the work rate higher, creating chances for the Felixstowe forwards.  It was still the away side who took the lead, with a scrappy short corner that was bundled in at the back post.  Felixstowe did not allow this set back to rattle them, and continued with their fast paced attacking play.  Soon enough the scores were tied.   A short corner routine didn’t quite go to plan after the ball was inaccurately dragged out to the top, however Dave Healy showed composure to take the ball on himself and fire an unstoppable shot into the net. 

Half time 1-1.

Felixstowe were sure they had what it takes to go on and win the game, and started the second half the stronger of the two sides.  Jack Entwistle was causing all sorts of problems up-front, backed up by some outstanding work rate from midfield, in particular Tom Offord who covered every blade of artificial grass more than once!  This dominance soon paid off, giving the seasiders the lead.  Paul Farthing showed great skill and pace to beat his marker to the by-line, before drawing a foul which resulted in a short corner.  A slick routine followed resulted in Entwistle finishing high into the net for a well-deserved goal.  With 15 minutes to go Felixstowe were confident they could grind out a win against a strong side but had not allowed for a large chunk of bad luck to strike.  With the sun shining brightly into the eyes of the Felixstowe defence, a high aerial ball was thrown into the ‘D’ by the Forest midfield.  The ball was lost in the air by Andy Kelcher at the back, who had no choice other than to turn away and protect himself from the falling ball, only to find it drop right next to him.  The opposition striker seized on this good fortune to nip in and hit the ball past the on-rushing Fothergill.  Felixstowe tried to hit back in the final minutes, but could not find the finish their play deserved.  Final score 2-2, a hard earned draw that many feel could have easily been a Felixstowe win.  The result maintains Felixstowe’s un-beaten run and sets them up nicely for the away trip to fellow mid-table side Ford next weekend.

Man of the Match – Andrew Fothergill for 5 or 6 outstanding saves (heroic).