Parson Drove v Great Yarmouth Town FC.
Saturday 6th April 2024. Report by Martin Baxter.
On a exceptionally windy spring Saturday the Bloaters made the long trip for the 2nd time in 8 days to the Cambridgeshire fens to face Parson Drove, who sat in comfortable mid-table coming into this fixture.
Yarmouth made only 1 change from Monday’s draw with Norwich CBS, with Belmar coming in for Jacobs, who was named amongst the substitutes.
On the journey up the talk was about how the Bloaters would cope with the Parson Drove number 9 Jack Prentice, who scored 2 goals in this reverse fixture last month, therefore there was a sigh of relief all round when his name was not on the team sheet
Couzens won the toss up in the centre circle and very sensibly decided to kick off with the 42 mph wind at his sides back for the first 45 minutes and this ended up being a very wise decision in the context of this game.
The first chance fell to Drove in the 6th minute when Hunt found himself in a great position, however his snap shot at goal from close range was well saved by keeper Ling and 6 minutes later Belmar found himself in space wide on the left and he cut in to unleash an unstoppable drive into the corner of the net to put the away side 1-0 up.
This goal settled Yarmouth down and they started to look like league leaders with their pace and power up front and in the 20th minute a shot from Duffield rebounded off of a defender before coming out to Couzens, who made no mistake slotting the ball into the net via a deflection off the post to make it 2-0. However 5 minutes later the away side then shot themselves in the foot when some sloppy defending allowed Miller to pull a goal back with a tap in from 4 yards out to make it 2-1.
Adams then had opportunity to restore their 2 goal lead, but his header from a Sanders free kick went just over the upright.
Drove were buoyed by their goal and they started to pump high balls into the box which centre backs Barnes and Adams dealt well with and in the 41st minute Sanders spotted the Drove keeper Brazil a long way off of his line and took a chance with a long range effort from fully 40 yards out that sailed with the wind over the keeper before hitting the back of the net for the goal of the day!
Just 2 minutes later Sanders once again tried to lob the ball over the keeper, this time from a much closer position, but the impressive Brazil jumped high into the air to claim the ball.
With virtually the last action of the first half a Halliday strike at goal was well saved by Brazil, however the rebound fell to Duffield who tapped home from 5 yards out for his 26th goal of the season and a Parson Drove player was then sinned binned for dissent right on the half-time whistle.
Half Time: Parson Drove 1 Great Yarmouth Town 4.
The 2nd period began with Parson Drove now having the advantage of the wind behind them, however this was somewhat negated by them being reduced to only 10 men for the next 10 minutes and Yarmouth took full advantage of the extra man and started the half very strongly and a Duffield effort from 15 yards out when he broke free of his marker was well saved by Brazil.
Drove then returned to 11 men and started to put some pressure on the Bloaters defence and Ling was required to pull of a very good save from a strike from Vincent on the edge of the 18 yard box in the 57th minute and 2 minutes later Vincent once again tried his luck with a shot that went around a yard wide of the right hand post.
On the hour mark the pressure finally paid off when a free kick from 30 yards out from Castellan carried with the wind over the head of keeper Ling and into the top right corner of the net to make it 4-2.
Cantwell then replaced Barber and 2 minutes later a header from Sanders from 7 yards out whizzed just past the post and then Duffield tried his luck with a long range volley that went sailing over the bar and the Bloaters were now back on top once again and went looking for a 5th goal on the day.
Fenn, Spooner, Thompson and Jacobs were all then introduced to see out the last 15 minutes or so as after playing 3 matches in the space of 8 days with 2 of them very long away journeys, the Bloaters were understandably starting to look a little leggy.
In the 85th minute Duffield once again outpaced his marker before putting his shot just wide of the post and in stoppage time a cross from Fenn was met at the back post by Sanders and his header smashed against the post before being cleared and Fenn himself had a shot blocked by a Drove defender from 3 yards out with virtually the last action of the game.
This match then finished with a very important 3 points gained by Yarmouth, who took advantage of the very windy conditions on the day better than the home side did.
Full Time: Parson Drove 2 Great Yarmouth Town 4.
GYTFC: Ling, Halliday, Philpott, Wilson-Towns, Adams, Barnes, Duffield, Barber, Couzens, Sanders, Belmar. Subs: Thompson, Cantwell, Jacobs. Spooner, Fenn.
Man of the Match: George Couzens. (Held the line superbly all game)
