The game at Kirton was played in much better conditions than we have had all season with a nice bit of rain making the pitch more user friendly and the weather making it much more pleasant to play in..
Sax started well with Rossi being put through by Fish causing problems for the Kirton defence his shot was half cleared but it went to John who found Ryan for a simple tap in and open the scoring inside 40 seconds. From the Kick off we were straight back on the attack and with some better finishing from Rossi we could have had another, Kirton had an attack down the right but fortunately for Sax the ball went right through the box and out to safety for a goal kick. The attack woke the boys up again and we soon won a free kick on the edge of the Kirton area Ed Done well to get the ball up and over the wall but the keeper was well positioned to make the save. On 24 Rossi hit the post and the ball came out to Ed who found Ryan in space, he then hit a vicious shot that gave the keeper no chance and made it Kirton 0-2 Sax. Kirton had a good spell of play that in the middle of the ref made a strange decision sax were on the attack and in the Kirton box 1 of the lads got a shove in the back the ref blew his whistle we all expected him to point at the spot but he gave an indirect free kick which came to nothing. Kirton put the lads under a lot of pressure and Tom an Kris worked hard down the sides to keep them out and Finchy and Sam done all they could to break up the play in the middle. We were happy to hear the half time whistle so we could try to get the boys refocused and ready for the 2nd half.
Half Time Kirton 0 - 2 Sax
The 2nd half started with Kirton pushing hard for a goal and switching to 4-3-3 a hard test for the midfield and back 4. After 5 mins the Kirton players won a free kick, with the wall lined up and Jack in position the Kirton player struck it well over the wall and it dipped in behind Jack to make It Kirton1 - 2 Sax. After some good play in Midfield the ball went to Ryan who set up Ed and he finished but the flag was up no goal. Connor won a ball and set up Ryan for his hat-trick to make it Kirton 1 - 3 Sax. Kirton were soon back on the attack and a good ball in from the right deflected off Sam past Jack to make it Kirton2 - 3 Sax. Jack then put us under unnecessary pressure when he obstructed a Kirton player but made up for it by claiming the free kick and clearing well. After another Kirton attack the ball was played out quickly to the midfield and then wide to John who raced clear to put it past the keeper and make it Kirton 2 - 4 Sax. The mood of the game changed when the ref gave us a penalty that seemed harsh on Kirton and the Kirton ended up going in the refs book for his protest. John stepped up and put it in to make it Kirton 2 - 5 Sax. After this the challenges started flying in all over the place and the ref was losing a bit of control on the game, and free kicks were given all over the pitch. Kirton got a free kick outside of our area and in the mix the ref saw something he didn’t like he pulled John out for a word and then pulled a red out of his pocket and sent John off for foul and abusive language that will result in a 35 day ban and missing 5 games including the cup game against Kirton.
The sax boys reorganised with Ed going on the right and Benji going upfront on his own, Rossi played a good ball in from the right and Connor met it at the back post to volley in and complete the scoring Kirton 2 - 6 Sax.
The back four and jack done well to deal with all that Kirton threw at them today and tha lads in midfield worked hard to help the forwards and the back four Ryan got his hat-trick and Ed worked well to cause all sorts of problems and set things up.
A good result slightly tainted by the red card but we take the 3 points and move on, we are going to have to play well over the next few weeks as we have got some tough games coming up but I am sure the boys are up to it. Hopefully from the game some of the boys will take that you cannot get away with silly blocks, challenges and language and anything that is not football.
David
