Colts come from behind to remain top of the league.
On a very cold day and in very muddy conditions the Colts boys got off to an awful start but regained their composure to win 2-1. Phew!
The game was a little over 6 minutes old when an Addiscombe forward went on a mazy run down our right. He must have beaten 4 or 5 players as we stood watching. He was allowed to run all the way into the box before he finished neatly. 0-1 and a wake up call for all those on the pitch. Addiscombe had set their stall out early, plenty of men behind the ball and hit us on the break.
The Colts, playing in white today, hadn’t got going at all. Addiscombe were first to the ball and stronger with the tackle too. Richard seemed to be involved in most of our moves and it was him that started the move that lead to the equaliser. Having won the ball in midfield he passed it straight to the feet of Stuart, he flicked it with his first touch into the path of James on the edge of the box. James hit a left foot screamer whilst on the run, straight over the keeper and high into the top corner. 1-1 with 15 minutes played, a magnificent finish.
But back came Addiscombe, who were not here just to make up the numbers, despite their league position. We huffed and puffed but the football wasn’t a joy to watch (the pitch contributed to this as well). Half time came just at the right time for us.
James went off injured; Jack A-B came on to replace him. Several substitutions had been made as the coaches looked for the right formulae. The second half looked much more promising as the Colts won the first 4 tackles and were starting to find their feet a bit more. Jack O, Scott and Richard were now beginning to take over the midfield winning most of the tackles. JJ, David, Michael and George rotated the full back positions to keep the back line on their toes.
Nathan had plenty of room down the right as Stuart took the play left. We thought we had scored when Stuart found Nathan with the keeper out of position but his first touch let him down and it went wide. However the same combination 2 minutes later on the 40-minute mark did lead to us scoring the winner. Stuarts run and cross to the back post saw Nathan in the right place at the right time to tap it home. 2-1.
Richards footballing brain and sweet right foot was now pulling all the strings for the Colts, as he sent the ball to the forwards time after time to score a third and seal all 2 points, but to no avail. In fact Addiscombe could have pinched an equaliser in the last seconds from a well-taken free kick into the box. But we do have Rhys in goal don’t forget! The result was better than the performance today on a muddy pitch. Well done
MoM nominations included Nathan, Rhys, Frank but Richard won it by a mile.