This is it, this is the one! the much awaited cup semi final against the unbeaten leaders of our league, a pleasant dry spring evening and only a night for cool heads and brave hearts to take one team to the final. did the 'Bravehearts' of Betley turn up, and defy the odds?, well.....read on.
A full squad was available, and boy, did we need the valuable input from all players to give ourselves a fighting chance of competing and getting to a final in our first season, it was now or never for the team.
A bright start from the kick off, Ben fed Eve who had a low shot turned away for a corner, from the resulting corner a goalmouth scramble, and another corner! very positive. After 3 minutes the ball was played through the middle by both teams, but again Ben took control, passed to Eve, who in turn played Max in and his hard and low shot beat the keeper into the bottom corner of the net! 1-0 Tigers! The best start we could of wished for!
AB responded by pressing our defence, a corner to AB caused confusion in our goalmouth but Mark, who had a superb game containing their dangerous number 10, cleared up to the middle, the ball came back in our box and Bryan made a fantastic point blank blocking save to preserve our lead, 8 minutes gone and Betley holding firm.
11 minutes gone into the first period and again Bryan forced a shot wide, AB were being closed down all over the pitch by superb defending from Lol and Mark, Mark was tiring his work rate had been phenomenal in this first period. in the last minute of the first half, Matt made a great run up the right, passed to Eve, who had another effort put out for a corner, no time to take it, half time was blown for, still an upset possibly on the cards? still 15 minutes to go! the crowd were both tense and excited, the largest crowd of this season.
At half time 3 changes were made, Alex replaced Mark who had put a full match worth of effort into 15 minutes!, Sam replaced the hard working Max up front, and Arron replaced another exhausted worker, Matt.
Second half began and straight away Sam had a charging run through the middle, this is what was needed, to keep the tempo of the game going from the first half and not let AB settle on the ball. 3 minutes into the second half and a superb rasping volley from Eve nearly broke the AB crossbar, both sets of supporters had their heads in their hands for different reasons!
19 minutes gone and Bryan was forced into action with a one handed save and Arron was there to clear away for a corner, can we take this for much longer? another save by Bryan, quick clearance up the pitch where Ben yet again, got the better in midfield and set Eve up with another fine strike, the AB goalkeeper keeping his team in the game diving to his right for a Betley corner! surely Betley couldn't keep this tempo up? we all prayed they could last out!
AB were making one or two inroads through our lines, they had to, time was running out, but this is where our whole squad came into play , Alex, having the game of his life standing strong, Lol, (Mr consistency) playing along side Alex, they were both outstanding.
4 minutes to go, AB shot, not sure if Bryan got a hand to it or not, however ball bounced of post! both teams now hit woodwork!, cant stand much more of this! 2 minutes to go! Sam clearly fouled in penalty area, no penalty! crowd screaming at referee! (all in good spirits!) wheres that final whistle gone!
Ref plays one and a half minutes over then blows, Delirium on the pitch, in the stands, on the touchline! what a result! Only thing missing now, Sky Sports cameras!
a proud proud moment for the Tigers, each and every one of them, all 10 having a massive contribution to an outstanding achievement tonight! everyone a 10 out of 10, how can we find a fault!
so we can look forward to a well deserved final, fear no one! as Tigers are roaring!
