Stoke Gabriel 1 - 0 Alphington 26th April 2008

A bright start by the Alphas on a glorious sunny afternoon. Alphington could have seen themselves 2-0 up within the first five or so minutes after some great penetrative play, but they were unable to get that final touch and Stoke Gabriel were not switched on at all. Around the 15 minute mark Stoke suddenly came to life when Tony Ali, who was in goal today, had to make two great finger-tip saves after Kelly was through and from his reaction it was clear he thought he should have scored.

The next 10 minutes or so was all Alphington with more chances going begging when Ackers missed a header in front of goal and Gary Hayes’ free kick went straight at the wall and out for a corner. Just before the half hour mark Alphington should have been awarded a penalty but, not for the first time in this game, the handball was missed by the referee. From the melee that ensued Stoke managed to get the ball up-field and had it not been for some great defending off the line by first team debutante Kieran McDonagh after Tony Ali was caught in no mans land, the Alphas would have been one down.

Throughout the first half the body language and abusive nature of the Stoke Gabriel team clearly showed that they were very uneasy with the fact that Alphington were playing them off the pitch. Into added time in the first half, against the run of play, Stoke had two opportunities, the first of which was a strike straight into the hands of Ali who held the ball well. The second of which should never have been after the Stoke forward blatantly controlled the ball with his hand in the penalty area, allowing him to shoot at goal but the shot, thankfully, went wide (it’s a real shame that the club linesman was not allowed to flag for such an offence, but may be it will be different next season, but may be not!!!!!). Stoke Gabriel did actually have the ball in the net before the referee blew up for the end of the first half, but the two Stoke forwards were a mere 10 yards offside.

The second 45 started with both sides looking to take the lead with some great end to end attacking play. Ten minutes in Kelly unleashed a swerving shot from the edge of the area that was only stopped by the upright and for the first 20 or so minutes Stoke Gabriel had the lion’s share of the play. Alphington started to come back into the game and, like Stoke in the first half, had opportunities but again they were just unable to finish. With 16 minutes to go Stoke Gabriel took the lead after catching the Alphas on the break with a goal that, although taken well, should never have really gone in. The only other moment of the game worth mentioning was some great play between Wes Johnson and Scott Forster, who fired the ball across to Leverton who went down the line into the box and at the keeper and had it not been for the skill of the keeper smothering the ball it would have been 1 all.

Although the Alphas lost again, all the signs are looking good and the play very encouraging since John Moore took over at the helm, and without wanting to tempt fate the early seasons drubbings are well and truly over as no team has beaten the Alphas by more than one goal since he took charge.


Ed's Man of the Match: Kieran McDonagh

All first team reports are written by and are the sole view of Russ Murch, they are in no way endorsed by Alphington AFC