A warm summer evening held host to an incredible contest between two rival teams. A young and inexperienced Barclay Boys were demolished in a one sided affair whereby Fairlands piled on the pressure for 40 minutes and didn't show any signs of slowing down. With a confident pre match attitude the Royal blues aimed to pile the misery on Barclay Boys by scoring as many goals as possible to help their goal difference and they didn't disappoint.
Early indications showed that the Boys in white were going to be difficult to break down after they set out and parked the bus but it didn't take long to break the deadlock when Callum Rowe found himself on the ball inside the opposition area before being fouled by Adam Lee and was awarded a penalty. Up stepped Dale Chester who has already netted from the spot this season and duly delivered once again slotting home cooly.
Fairlands relentless attack continued with Barclay giving little attempt to push for a goal themselves when this time Dale Chester delivered an accurate pass into the danger zone after spotting Rhys Legate's beautiful run across the goal mouth where he nonchalantly and majestically backheeled sending the keeper the wrong way and making it 2-0. Fairlands third goal came when Phil Powell added to his growing tally after Callum Rowe looked to find a killer pass to Dale Chester who's touch fell on the half volley for Powell who showed the clinical finish strikers would be proud of. With the game almost dead and buried Fairlands continued the rout when Lee Kingham contributed with an assist to Mark Gentleman after he drilled his pass in and Gentleman turned on his touch and found an easy finish passed the Barclay keeper. The energy produced by the blues was demonstrated finely by Jordan Gascoyne who stayed solid the whole game cleaning up any attempt of a push by the whites and also pushing forward stringing passes together with his team mates.
A great team performance led to more goals for Fairlands and this time it was Callum Rowe who produced the goods. Legate picked the ball up in midfield and passed into Rowe looking for a return but instead Rowe took the ball forward and after beating not one but two defenders he poked home into the bottom corner rounding off a great solo effort.
The final and sixth goal was less beautiful to watch but summed up the inspiring effort Fairlands have so far produced this season with grit and determination when Kingham again fired in a pass which was flicked on by Powell and found Gentleman who turned and pulled the trigger only to be denied by a fine save, Kingham then followed up the scramble and touched the ball towards the goal but it was Gentleman who doubled his season tally with a tap in on the goal line. Lee Kingham is now the only outfield player yet to score for Fairlands but he will be adamant his time will come and won't be disappointed with his contribution so far to the team with assists.
With little to do the whole game Sean 'Neuer' Glennon almost playing the sweeper role didn't switch off and when Callum Rowe was caught with no option in defence he looked to play a looped ball to Glennon and despite being under pressure he calmly brought the ball down on his knee and played a pass out showing he can be relied upon even when others may have switched off.
Another convincing win for Fairlands and their train is showing no signs of slowing towards the grand destination of promotion. Next up Multiple Scoregasms.
Star Man *
In a match where no one made a mistake and everyone played well the star man award this week goes to Rhys Legate who displayed a fine performance in which he showed fitness levels nobody expected constantly running and chasing down the ball. He also capped his game with a well taken and classy finish to make him joint top scorer with Dale Chester.
