Needham Market under 23’s v Great Yarmouth Town.
Saturday 22nd October 2022. Report by Martin Baxter.
On a warm and sunny autumn Saturday afternoon Yarmouth made the trip into Suffolk for a crunch relegation battle with Needham Market under 23’s.
Last month Yarmouth had their most convincing win of the season with an emphatic 6-1 win in the league against the Market Men, however less than 2 weeks later Needham Market returned to the Wellesley for a knockout cup tie and won 2-0 on the night, although this time with several first team squad regulars in their line-up.
Therefore the Bloaters knew they would need to put in a dogged and determined performance to come away with the all-important 3 points from this match and that they would also need to improve from their mid-week performance at Norwich CBS.
The game kicked off on the alternative 3G pitch and not in the main stadium and both teams started cautiously sounding each other out and the first chance came in the 15th minute for the visitors with a header from a cross that went sailing high over the bar and then 5 minutes later Trenery had a shot at goal from 15 yards out, that went straight to the keeper who dealt with it comfortably.
The Market Men at this stage were passing the ball around better than their opponents, without really creating a guilt edged chance and then in the 20th minute Yarmouth took the lead with a perfectly timed through ball from Soares which found Couzens who slotted his effort past the keeper.
On the half hour mark Fraser had a decent chance to put the home side level but sent his shot way over the upright and then 5 minutes later a fantastic free flowing counterattack from the Bloaters involving 5 players ended up with Trenery sliding the ball into the net to make it 2-0 and Yarmouth had taken both their chances in clinical fashion.
In the 40th minute Jacobs had to go off with a leg injury and was replaced by McQueen and 2 minutes later Needham’s Letts was clean through one on one with keeper Lane who managed to stop him in his tracks with a really superb piece of goal keeping, however a minute later Letts was given a second bite at the cherry when Yarmouth failed to clear their lines and this time he smashed the ball into the net to give the Market Men a lifeline.
Half-time: Needham Market Under 23’s 1 Great Yarmouth Town 2.
In many matches if a team manages to pull a goal back right-on half time, they will often come out for the 2nd period on the front foot, however it was the away side who started the more positive as they were pressing their opponents and they won a couple of early corners which unfortunately came to nothing.
In the 55th minute skipper Cantwell had a glorious opportunity to put this game to bed, however with the whole goal to aim at his shot went straight to Shorten the Market Men’s keeper and he really should have been more clinical with his effort.
As the 2nd half wore on both sides were starting to tire and the game was beginning to open up and more space was becoming available, with the home side pushing for an equalizer and the Bloaters digging in to make sure they held on to their slender lead, but also looking to counterattack as well when possible.
In the 70th minute the hard-working Soares was replaced with Fenn and 5 minutes later after a coming together of several players after a foul was committed, each side received a yellow card.
On 77 minutes following a corner Vincent failed to connect properly with a tap in from close range and Shorton was able to make the crucial save.
In the 80th minute the sub was subbed as Mc Queen was replaced with Lonergan to see out the last 10 minutes or so and in the 88th minute Yarmouth had one last scare when a speculative cross from the home side curled in and hit the crossbar before going out of play.
The ref then blew for full-time and as I mentioned in the beginning of this report, Yarmouth would need to put in a dogged and determined performance to get the 3 points and that is exactly what they did and on balance deserved the victory.
Ful time: Needhham Market Under 23’s 1 Great Yarmouth Town 2
Great Yarmouth Line up: Lane, Willets, Philpott, Barnden, Vincent, Barnes, Trenery, Cantwell, Couzens, Soares, Jacobs. Subs: Lonergan Fenn, McQueen.
Man of the match: Keith Vincent
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