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YC&AC, Sunday 11th November,
Waking up on Sunday morning, you could have been forgiven for thinking the Geckoes v YCAC game would be cancelled. After all, the fixture was due to be played on a grass pitch and it had rained for the previous couple of days but thankfully the game was at YCAC and not at Misato so it could be played as scheduled.
The Geckoes had their strongest squad of the season with just the three or four first team regulars missing and were confident that they could continue their unbeaten run which stretched as far back as October 7. The fact that this run only included the one game is a moot point…
YCAC kicked off but it was the Geckoes who had the better of the early play with Andy Gill and Kazu linking well together up front and Jonathan finding space and dominating the midfield. The Geckoes took the lead in the fifteenth minute when Andy Gill skinned the left back, crossed the ball to Jonathan Smith who laid it on to Kazu to tap it in. 1-0 and the Geckoes deserved to be in front.
However, as has happened a couple of times this season, the Geckoes took their foot off the pedal and allowed YCAC to get back into it. In the 25th minute, a needless foul was given away and the resulting free kick was only half cleared. The ball fell to Kaji in the right channel and his low shot was enough to beat Rob in goal and tie things up at 1-1.
The Geckoes then stepped up the pace and were soon back ahead, this time it was Kazu’s turn to skin the left back and cross for Kosuke to slide in and score his second goal of the season. The Geckoes continued to press and there was some disappointment that the half-time score remained 2-1.
The half time team talk was focused on the fact that YCAC would have the wind in the second half and would be trying to use the long ball even more than they had in the first half and that proved to be the case.
YCAC started the second half the stronger of the two teams and were desperate to try and get back into the game. The Geckoes defence was solid and supported by the midfield duo of Jonathan and Spencer they managed to prevent YCAC from having too many clear cut chances and YCAC were restricted to shots from outside of the box that were mostly wide or over. They nearly got the equalizer after one of the long punts forward found the centre forward in space in the 18 yard box but his attempted lob sailed over the bar.
The Geckoes nearly sealed the win when Andy Gill broke down the left, cut inside and fired a fierce shot that the YCAC keeper did well to push out for a corner.
And that was pretty much the way it finished. YCAC kept pushing for the equalizer but despite all their pressure and possession they only managed two shots on target in the second half.
YCAC will feel aggrieved that they didn’t take anything from the match but it was a really solid performance by the Geckoes defence. A good result for the Geckoes and they can now look forward to playing the Vagabonds on Saturday (weather permitting) and look to extend their winning streak of two games...
Report by Rob Manager
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