Furngate vets 0 vs 3 best utd

Furngate Vets kicked off pre-season with low player availability, but things worked out nicely as we managed to put together a solid squad of 14.

It was also a great day to welcome some new faces to the Gate, with Lee Champion, Sean Clarabut, Matt Clarabut, Michael Joy and Lee Henderson all making their debuts.

After arriving, we quickly realised this wasn’t going to be a normal vets game. The opposition had several players still playing county league football, with a lot of younger legs on show, so we knew straight away we had a big challenge ahead.

The weather was extremely hot, the pitch was hard, but the challenge was there and we took it on.

Over the course of 90 minutes (which felt more like 300!) there really wasn’t too much to be negative about. We battled, worked hard and created chances.

Chuck came close with a volley just over the bar, Pistol had a header go over, and he also managed to lob the keeper only to see the ball drop inches wide of the post… probably a good thing because we’d never have heard the end of it! ??

We went behind after around 25 minutes but stayed in the battle, keeping it at 1-0 until the final 5 minutes when the opposition managed to grab another two goals.

Full-time: 3-0 loss

But this was far from a disappointing result.

Lee Champion stepped onto the pitch for his debut and was absolutely solid at the back. Michael Joy started a little shaky but quickly found his feet and grew into the game, helping keep the back line strong.

Rob South was solid as ever at the back, showing his quality, experience and ability once again. Our trusted number 25 doing what he does best — reliable, composed and a massive part of this team. ??

The Clarabut brothers both made a brilliant first impression — not only have we signed some real talent, but also some great people to have around the squad.

Sam Tester put in an outstanding performance. For someone who was scared of the sun and undecided about playing, what a shift he put in! He created chances, gave everything he had and even managed to nutmeg one of their players. Brilliant effort.

Danny Bishop and Tommy Johnson carried on exactly where they left off last season — reliable, committed and giving everything for the badge. Great effort chaps.

Lee Henderson looks like another quality signing, playing some lovely football and giving everything on the pitch. Also a massive thank you to his son-in-law for stepping up and going between the sticks — a great performance in goal.

Chuck had a strong game, Dicky was solid as always, and Pistol is still working on the fitness levels… but at least he’s looking a little less chubby! ??

Steve Pelczer did exactly what was asked of him as always, putting in another great performance for the team.

A big mention to Chris Lancashire, who stepped up to help run things from the sideline, making changes and putting plenty of thought into the tactics.

It was also brilliant to see Roger Smith down and making his start with us. People off the pitch are just as important as the ones on it, and having those people involved makes a massive difference.

We won’t look at a 3-0 defeat as a bad result against an unusual opponent. This was about getting minutes in the tank after a long time away from football for many of the lads.

Midweek summer friendlies are always difficult for everyone, so we’ll look to keep them mainly to weekends moving forward. This one only came about after our Lancing game was cancelled.

Overall — great effort, great attitude and a very impressive start.

Onto the next one.

Up the Gate ???