CFC Shalford Reserves vs Essex Royals III

Essex Junior Trophy 1st Round - 12th October 2008

This week it was the Essex junior trophy and Shalford Reserves hosted Essex royals. We started this game a little low in confidence but this was soon forgotten as we got off to a flyer by taking the lead in the first five minutes when Gavin Holroyd scored as he has in every game this season.

A second swiftly followed as Marcus Theobald was sent clear of their defence by a long kick from the goal keeper and dispatched the ball easily past the advancing goal keeper. Then we seemed to take our foot of the gas and allowed the royals back into the game with a couple of half chances and then a mix up presented them with their first goal as a tangle of legs in the area between our goal keeper and the Royals forward ended in a penalty and it was dispatched into the corner.

The rest of the first half was even until on the stroke of half time the equaliser came .

Half Time: CFC Shalford Reserves 2 Essex Royals Thirds 2

The second half we controlled the game for long periods and the third goal was a thunderbolt from Manager Aaron Maxfield. This should of been the end of the Royals as their heads dropped as we created and wasted chance after chance which we failed to put away and this came back to haunt us with the final kick of the game when a harmless punt forward should of been easily dealt with somehow ended in the back of the net.

Full Time: CFC Shalford Reserves 3 Essex Royals Thirds 3

So extra time began with the Royals on a high and us deflated they took the lead for the first time in the game to make it 4-3 before Aaron Maxfield got his second of the game somehow scoring from the by line after making the defence look silly after a magic shimmy moving the belly one way and moving himself the other way (pure genius) this however was short lived as our older legs tired with the exception of Kevin Roots who covered every blade of grass today they got a 5th goal just before half time in extra time . The final period we pushed and made chances and even rattled the crossbar in the final minute just not our day in front of goal but it will come

After Extra Time: CFC Shalford Reserves 4 Essex Royals Thirds 5