League Knock Out Cup 2nd Round 23-01-10.Pot Black F.C- 6
Suffolk Punch- 0
Match Overview- After Pot Black's continued dismal form of late, they we're under no illusions with regards the task at hand. Despite playing a league below the home side, Punch are a team mixed with experience and ability and were going to be an extremely tough challenge for any side in this competition, with Jermaine Boyce, Jeff Humphries, Kai King, Batch, Vialli and Hitchum all starting in the Punch ranks.
After P.B's dissection last week at the hands of Div 1 high flyer's Norton, it was all change in the L'Orange ranks as Gary Boyd, Paul Taylor, Ricci Reeder, Vinny Terry (making his 1st appearance for 2 mths) and debutant Scott Harvey all starting.
The home side started strongly after receiving their orders from their returning manager Danny McKinley, with Vinny Terry and Max Wall shinning with some great energy and drive, but it was Adam Bird who gave P.B the early lead when he met L'Oranges first corner at the near post, heading a delightfully whipped Max Wall cross into the roof of the net.
Disaster struck after Pot Black joy insued as the returning Vinny Terry appeared to have a recurrence of his knee injury after jumping around an attempted tackle, as he landed heavily 20 minutes into the game, as Steve Collins replaced 'Guns' in an unfamiliar left wing role.
The remainder of the first half was a 50/50 affair with neither side troubling either keeper as both physically strong defences held strong, and the only action of note being Jermaine Boyce receiving a caution for persistent decent, and Adam Bird being brought down in the box only to see the foul given a outside the box with the resulting freekick being dealt with.
The second half was a more lively affair as shortly after the break some excellent football from Pot Black Academy starlets Adam Bird & Max Wall produced the best move of the match as Max Wall finally rounded the keeper to fire home.
With the visitors clearly gutted at seeing their hard work go reward less, Gav Hunt's endeavours paid dividends as his bravery saw the keepers attempted Clearance canon off the powerful striker and fall at his feet as he cheekily for filled childhood dreams as he stopped the ball on the line before dropping to his knees and headering home.
The only unsavory moment of the match was when Jermaine Boyce received a second yellow for descent, leaving the Punch dangerman disgruntled and furious, but to the credit of his team mates and manager they retained a cool head as their striker argued his case from the sideline.
Pot Black now brought Rob Sterry and Stuart Canham into the action as the impressive backline continued as it began, with full backs Danny Rose and Gary Boyd given a rest.
Reduced to 10 men, Punch now struggled to contain the Division 1 side as Gav Hunt burst onto a Scott Harvey pass as he charged towards the opposition keeper before rolling the ball back to a focused Adam Bird as he calmly flicked the ball into the top corner with the outside of his boot.
Punches continued high line, as they went forward in a nothing to lose mentality proved their undoing as Max Wall released a perfect pass through the middle which saw debutant Scott 'Jimmy' Harvey's dynamic pace leave the visitors backline for dead as he slotted into the bottom corner with confidence.
Last but not least saw Steve Collins chip in with a real collectors item, after drawing the foul on the edge of the box wide on the left, The Crab proceeded to place the ball inside the right hand post with gusto, and no one appeared more shocked than Steve, who forgot to celebrate.
All in all, a highly pleasing performance as each goal was met with a cheer, the arguing disappeared, the quality football returned but more importantly the performance was against a good side, so you should be very pleased with yourselves this evening, well done.
Goals- Adam Bird x2, Max Wall, Gav Hunt, Scott Harvey and Steve Collins.
G.H.Windows & Doors M.O.M- The Pot Black defensive 7 (inc 2 subs), despite some strong performances all round, the boys at the back (R.Reeder, G.Boyd, D.Laws, D.Boyd, D.Rose, R.Sterry, and S.Canham) were business like and faultless all day.
