Thorntonians V’s 1 – 4 Old Tiffinians III’s

As is tradition at this time of year, the rain plays havoc with the fixture schedule.  With fortress Grist’s a tad wet, Thorntonians were able to step in and kindly offer up their pitch to get everyone a game.  Rudely, Tiffs rewarded this hospitality with their best performance of the season.

The change in venue led to one player dropping out, and an ill advised fence hopping adventure led to a Saturday morning match day cry-off for another (please, don’t ask).  Luckily Tiffs skipper Conrad Bell was able to rustle up a replacement while on his way to the ground.

The pre match team talk was too sweary to reproduce here, but the gist of it was to go out there, press from the front, maybe try and score a few goals and show this, nearly top of the table Thorntonians team what we could do.

For once, Tiffs seemed to have listened and they made a strong start, penned Thorntonians into their own half and made a number of good chances.  After hitting the bar twice, and firing a few good chances straight at the keeper, Tiffs dominance finally led to a goal.  A Tiffs corner was half cleared and a fine shot from Prash Deshmukh was very well saved by the Thorntonians keeper.  Tiffs stood and admired the save, expecting the ball to go out for another corner, while Thorntonians kept playing and were given the freedom of Richardson Evans to stroll forward and play a simple ball through for their striker who fired in from a very tight angle.

Despite being comfortably the better team, and making a string of chances, Tiffs managed to go in 1-0 down at the break.  The team talk was simple, go out and play the same and the chances will come.

Tiffs did exactly that.  Midway through the 2nd half another Tiffs corner was only partly cleared and as it was recycled into the box, debutant Parth Sahu was on hand to smash the ball home from close range.  Filled with confidence, Tiffs went on to stamp their authority on the game.  A second goal came when good work from Elliott Burgess led to another fine save from the Thorntonians keeper, only for Amadeus Jeetla-Lang to be on hand for the tap in.  A third goal came from a corner as Reece Evans headed in, and Tiffs found themselves in control of the game.

Clearly rattled, Thortonians dug themselves further into a hole when one of their defenders wrestled a Tiff to the ground.  Booked for the tackle, he then proceeded to have some choice words for the ref and found himself with an immediate 2nd booking for descent and an early bath (well, cigarette and then shower).  Finding themselves up against 10 men, Tiffs had a 5 minute wobble as they sat too deep, before getting it together and adding a fourth and final goal through an Al Doe penalty.

POTM: Reece Evans