Seasiders not ‘Alright’ in E17

Waltham Forrest 3 – 1 Felixstowe Men’s 1st

October 1st 2011 - EM Division 1

Felixstowe Men’s 1st XI travelled down the A12 looking to building on the point obtained in last week’s season opener. The mood was buoyant and positive in approach to the venue which saw Felixstowe secure a hard earned victory in the same fixture last year.

With the solid Entwistle/Leney partnership retained upfront and Jones is support the Seasiders attacking setup looked strong. Bolstered by Woodhouse in right side of midfield the mood was positive. However the midday sun beat down in unexpected fashion for the beginning of October and certainly seemed to stifle both teams in what was a slower paced game than the average Felixstowe fixture.

The over-sanded pitch and searing heat made conditions difficult and it was the host team that took the initiative and started on the front foot. Waltham Forrest appeared strong going forward but the Seasiders appeared resilient, implementing a successfully practiced defensive press from the front of the field. Against the run of play, the Seasiders took the lead. Taking advantage of the quick taken free hit inside the Forrest 25 yard line, Woodhouse accurately found Entwistle who weaved his was along the baseline and delivered a deadly ball to the stick of Leney who despatched the ball goal-wards with relative ease.

Confident in their lead Felixstowe used the space well, finding Woodhouse on the right hand side who accurately deployed aerial balls into the corners for the tirelessly working Entwistle and Leney to run onto. Felixstowe came cruelly close to a second goal when Fowler found himself with the ball at his feet by the penalty sport with just the goalkeeper to beat, only for the target to evade him.

The sun continued to causes issues to the players as hydration levels declined and the umpires obligingly called for a water break later in the half which halted Felixstowe’s momentum. Following the restart Forrest continued in their push for an equaliser and won a series of short corners. The Felixstowe defence appeared to nullify the Forrest attack until near the end of the half the home side scored with a short corner slipped in at the near post.

The match was tied 1-1 at the break.

A longer than normal half time break so all players could take on sufficient fluids helped the Seasiders decide the tactics to adopt to try and push on and push for victory.

Despite the effort levels pushed hard, Forrest came back strong in the second half and combined with the hydration levels reaching a new nadir the pressure told. Forrest took advantage of a misplaced pass in the Felixstowe midfield and moved on to create a melee in the Felixstowe ‘D’. After some excellent shot stopping from Fothergill, the home team tucked away the ball to take the lead.

The Seasiders were finding the game very tough but still keen to persevere, knowing they could still take points from the game. However, Forrest were very lucky to pick the ball up outside the Felixstowe 25 yard line in what seemed to be a back of the stick foul and moved the ball into the ‘D’ for a messy finish to develop a two goal lead against an aggrieved Felixstowe team. Forrest 3-1 Seasiders.

Despite being down, Felixstowe continued to push after another mid-half break and found themselves in the Forrest ‘D’ on a number of occasions. After some intricate forward play, Woodhouse was denied a direct goal scoring opportunity by a Forrest foul and was awarded a penalty flick. Woodhouse stepped up endeavouring to give the Seasiders some home of a result. Alas the pitch was unkind and the sticky surface caused a less than ideal ball contact and the flick was saved.

With only a few minutes on the clock Felixstowe did not give and despite a few stray golf balls from some enthusiastic local ‘golfers’ posing a potential distraction the visitors tried their best but to no avail and the final whistle blew signalling the unison of deflation amongst the sunken Seasiders.

Felixstowe will be looking to steer the start of the season in the right direction for the visit of Ford at fortress Orwell this coming week, against a team who have had similar beginning to Division 1 this year.