Match Report

Goals scored
Dave Rix (Pen).

Man of the match
Stuart Medcraft.

Team
Stuart Medcraft, Paul Munyard, Mark Harte, Dave Rix, John Wilson, Brain Butler, Gavin Mayo, Rob Marling, Danny Sarling, Tony Bush, Graham Rix.

Subs
Dean Weaving, Pete Smart, Martin Burton.

Landsdowne lined up with two changes from the disappointing defeat against Bromfords, with Brian Butler coming in on the right-wing for the injured Chris Vieceli, and Danny Sarling returning to the midfield after injury with Neil Murphy unavailable. Mark Harte also retained his place in an unfamiliar left-back slot – who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?! The cup game against Prowlers could be viewed as an opportunity to get back to winning ways, or a tricky banana skin of a tie. Prowlers had begun to show some decent form in Division 3, running Reecon Rovers (the runaway leaders in Div. 3) close in a recent fixture and drawing with Durham.

The opening pattern of play seemed to be a bit “hot potato” for both sides. Landsdowne were unable to settle into their usual passing game with Prowlers hitting the ground running at a very high tempo. With several members of the Landsdowne side old enough to have fathered the entire Prowlers squad, matching their tempo was not an option!! Few chances were on show during the first half – Landsdowne managed to fashion a couple of openings from Danny’s through-balls (not his stretchy balls!), while keeping Prowlers in comfortable areas by dealing with the many many long balls being played from back to front. Landsdowne suffered one scare during the first half, with Farmyard toe-poking the ball towards the corner of his own net. Luckily for the Landsdowne pin-up, he found Stuart in top form between the sticks as he managed to dive backwards and tip the ball round the post. After a flash of his trademark smile, all was forgiven. All square at half-time and a reasonable reflection on a poor game.

The second half continued in the same way, though with the game being stretched Landsdowne began to knock on the door. Unfortunately, Landsdowne found the Prowlers keeper in top form as he denied them time after time. A mix-up at the back saw the ball run clean through to a Prowlers striker with just Stuart to beat. The striker hit a peach of a shot which was destined for the back of the net until Stuart, despite diving the wrong way, managed to turn it round the post with a strong hand. How it didn’t go in I’ll never know! Fantastic save! Dean Weaving came on during the second half for Brian Butler, while Pete Smart came on for Danny Sarling to make his first appearance of the season. Full-time came around with the score still tied.

Extra-time was practically all Landsdowne, though they were unable to find a way past the Prowlers keeper. The best opportunity saw Graham latch on to the ball in box, lifting the ball over the keeper towards Rob Marling. Rob hit a volley which the scrambling keeper managed to keep out, turning the ball out as far as Dean Weaving who went on to hit the post with another well-struck effort. The ball then ran straight back out to Rob who hit a low effort into the corner of the net, only to see it disallowed for offside. Dean was denied a couple of more times as he continued to make an impression down the left. The breakthrough came shortly after, when Pete won a tackle in the midfield and left Rob to play the ball down the wing to Graham in space. Graham then found Mark Harte in an advanced position who moved into the box and was able to perform his dying swan routine for the second time in the game after a clumsy challenge. Penalty! After a lengthy debate about who didn’t want to take the penalty, Dave Rix stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to make it 1-0 and give Landsdowne a deserved lead.

The second period of extra-time saw Landsdowne clinging on to their lead. Rob Marling went off for Martin Burton as Landsdowne attempted to see the game through. Prowlers had a number of half-chances in the dying minutes, but could not find a way past Stuart Medcraft who put in a faultless display in goal and sealed a well-deserved man of the match performance.