Well, if ever there was a game of 2 halves – this was it. With a well-executed high press after just eight minutes, Paddy Cook closed down Blackforge FC’s goalkeeper’s space, and after blocking his attempted clearance, the ball spun beautifully into the net. Then, after we had successfully managed the first 44mins. with great teamwork and effort, an unfortunate own goal made it 1-1 at half-time.
The goal that put Blackforge 2-1 ahead early in the second half was from a free-kick, which was, by all accounts, an incidental contact with two players jostling for position and tackling for the ball and didn’t merit a free-kick. Of course, while this was an obvious error by the referee, it unfortunately had a significant impact on how the game progressed thereafter, with the opposition scoring 2 rapid goals on the hour mark and a fifth before the end.