Barron Bags Brace As Sunninghill Prove Too Good For Beaulieu...
A strong Sunninghill side took to the field on Sunday and despite never reaching top form coasted past the visitors who put in a spirited display but were out done by a Dave Barron wonder goal midway through the second period before the same player won and despatched a penalty to end the game as a contest, and but for some wayward finishing and good saves from the visiting keeper the game would have been over much earlier.
The previous time the sides met Beaulieu won 3-0 against a very weak Sunninghill side, but this week the side had 5 players back who were missing from the side that day.
The starting line up was the strongest it has been for a while with the return of Riding to left back after a couple of months out with an ankle injury, Clinton Harcup partnered Keough at centre half with Zutshi slotting in on the right, Forde came back into the middle alongside the returning captain Dan Parker, Underwood and Charlie Harcup provided the width to front 2 of Barron and Bennett.
And Sunninghill almost got off to the worst possible start when a ball forward from the away side was completely missed by Jon Keough allowing the striker a clean run on goal, but the player lacked the finishing touch and could only drag his shot wide, then on 10 minutes Jai Zutshi over extended stretching for the ball and had to be replaced by Ali Azarian who went to right midfield and Charlie Harcup dropped back to right back.
The game then turned into a battle in the midfield where Forde and Parker looked a class above their opponents, Forde putting in a few bone crunching tackles, and captain Parker was able to win the aerial battle and get forward to support the forwards, the front 2 were working hard up front and this was where the first goal came from when Bennett gambled on a poor header back to the keeper and was able to nip in and slot the ball into an empty net. The side could have doubled their lead when Parker met Underwoods corner but could only direct his header at substitute Ali Azarian who managed to block the effort which was then cleared.
Sunninghill looked in control with Keough and Clinton Harcup dominating everything Beaulieu threw at them, but started to give away a few needless free kicks, and from one of these sloppy marking allowed a forward a free header from 6 yards which he made no mistake with. The scores remained level until half time as the sides came in, Clinton Harcup made sure his side knew how poorly they had played but the performances of Forde and Parker in the middle were dragging the side through, and the second half started a lot more brightly with the ball kept on the deck more as chances began to come.
Firstly Barron cut back after a scramble in the area and Charlie Harcups well struck shot was parried behind by the keeper for the first of many corners, Bennett was then released by a Parker header but 1 on 1 fired his effort to close to the keeper who made a good save. But he could do nothing with 25 minutes remaining when Barron turned with the ball and with the defence backing off unleased a 30 yard effort that dipped and swerved into the top right hand corner past the outstretched hand of the keeper, the goal was met with great celebration as it had seemed like for all the chances that this would not be Sunninghills day.
7 minutes later the game was over as a contest when Barron neatly controlled a high ball and turned his man superbly who could only bring the striker down in the area, Barron dusted himself down to confidently tuck his penalty away sending the keeper the wrong way and it was now 3-1, Ali Azarian almost got his first goal of the season when Bennetts volley across the face of goal deflected off his abs of steel only to be cleared off the line.
With 4 minutes remaining Beaulieu were given a rather lucky break when their striker jumping for the ball at the far post managed to do an acrobatic flip over Charlie Harcups shoulder, but the penalty that was weak to say the least bobbled into the grateful arms of Chris Regan before in the dying seconds Rob Forde almost capped off a man of the match performance with a goal, a square ball across the area found Forde 25 yards out and his firsts time effort looked to be curling into the top right hand corner but only managed to come back off the post with the keeper well beaten.
A good result for the side despite never getting out of second gear which leaves us in 3rd during what has been a topsy turvey season to say the least, and finally 2 mentions today one to the referee John Ward who at short notice did us all a favour and kept control of the game, and also to the Beaulieu player who commented "this lot think they are better than us", well.... we are better than you deal with it!
Player Ratings...
Chris Regan - Couple of smart stops, didnt put a foot wrong. 7.
Jai Zutshi - Limped off injured early. 5.
Clinton Harcup - Solid at the back, covered well when required. 7.
Jon Keough - Dominated in the air but made couple of silly errors. 6.
Martin Riding - Looked to keep ball on the deck and defended well. 7.
Charlie Harcup - Moved to right back, defended well and got forward well caused problems. 7.
Dan Parker - Solid in the middle, had upper hand and got forward well. 8.
Rob Forde - Sat behind parker and won physical battle with some crunching tackles, almost capped with a goal. 9.
Toby Underwood - Better performance got ball down and tried to link play with forwards. 7.
Jon Bennett - Worked hard for goal, had success against small Beaulieu backline. 7.
Dave Barron - Linked up well, created chances and capped display with great 30 yard striker, before winning and converting a penalty. 8.
Subs
Ali Azarian - Early introduction, slotted in on the right and performed well. 6.
