It was the start of great things after a few months of turmoil, but inevitably got off to the worst start when two squad members rocked up late. It meant The Revs had to start the game with 5, eventually restored to full strength 5 minutes in.
It wasn’t the best of starts either and for the first 10 minutes The Revs were all over the place positionally. That’s not to say they didn’t have their chances, The Revs always looked the more dangerous side.
J. Evans had a few good half chances, Steane was narrowly off target with some clever back post headers, Pinkstone was been a pest running at players and Beardall was the one pulling all the strings.
Things looked comfortable at the back also with Tyman and L. Evans mopping up and sticking the hard shoulder in when needed – much to the chagrin of the opposition.
So essentially the game became an arm wrestle, who would buckle first, who would make the first mistake.
Well it was The Revs… Losing ball in their own half, lead to a 2 on 1 counter attack and Myers could do nothing about the smash and grab at the back post.
Typical Revs against opposition they knew nothing about were allowing themselves to be beat at their own game. Half time came and went and The Revs stuck at it.
Eventually The Revs settled into a rhythm and took control of the game and the ball to play some wonderful football. Some nice flicks, interplay and through balls almost managed to come off until eventually a lovely sweeping move produced play that opened up the opposition.
Beardall played a through ball to Pinkstone, who passed through to J. Evans, who in one movement swept the ball out to Tyman who finished with aplomb! A real rocket into the far bottom corner made it deservedly all square!
The Revs upped it a gear and apart from one or two nervy moments on the counter attack, looked solid enough. J. Evans had a swivel and shot that was just deflected wide, Steane had a chance on the volley after a ball over from Beardall and L. Evans took one too many touches after getting in a great position in front of goal.
With 5 minutes remaining The Revs finally took the lead. Camped in the opposition area the ball pinged about before coming to L. Evans’ feet. He turned and shot but the keeper parried into the path of the on-rushing Pinkstone who smashed it into the roof of the net with a real roar.
It was all about The Revs keeping their heads and the ball now and victory would be the reward…
It. Was. All. About. Keeping. Their. Heads…
Up steps Steane, with less than 2 minutes on the clock, to lunge from behind deep in their half. Handbags and pouting ensued followed by the brandishing of a yellow card and The Revs end the game how they started with only 5 men on the pitch.
The opposition now, for the first time in the game, piled on the pressure. Several corners were whipped in and dealt with brilliantly by Myers, a free kick was given away that led to a shot going narrowly wide and eventually – with 30 seconds to go – tired legs and tired minds and a man light told as a long range effort sneaked into the bottom corner to level things up.
The Revs kicked off… The ref blew the whistle… the opposition celebrated like it was England beating Slovakia on home soil. A draw was gutting for The Revs, victory was taken away.
So first term report? Must do better and improve discipline.
Onwards and upwards…
