Report

Cat’s have the “wind” in their sales
An emphatic 3-0 victory over the Ball Bois was enough to see Cat’s extend their promotion push at the summit of division 2. That now puts Cat’s 4 points clear of Hot Scots who have that game in hand and with Cats playing the Scots later in February it means that a win or draw for Cats will not only see them promoted to the first division but with every chance of winning the league as Newcastle and Cardiff travel to Leicester for the remaining two games of the GFSN league. A defeat to Hot Scots would put the championship out of Cat’s hands having a 2 point deficit to the Scottish contingent.
On a blustery and heavy pitch Cat’s went for a similar line up to that which earned a vital away point in the reverse fixture 2 weeks ago. Neil came into the starting X1 in place of Tom Jones.
Cats won the toss and elected to go with the wind in the first half and use the pace of Keiren and Neil to take full advantage of the conditions.
Indeed it was Ball Bois with the early running peppering the Cat’s goal on 2 occasions; one came from a through ball as Wayne made a timely last minute challenge on Brett, and Mike making a block from 6 yards.
Tom and Indy battled well in the air to clear the aerial threat in the swirling wind.
Against the run of play, John Smith found himself inside left, 8 yards out who hit a turning shot which flew past the keeper to the bottom right for a 1-0 lead.
Ball Bois almost got themselves right back in the game 5 minutes later following a foul by Gary 30 yards out. The ball was lofted high into the area as their big midfielder lost his marker to glance the ball to the right of the goal only to see his shot smartly saved by Kyle diving to his left.
Kev was the standout performer of the first half chasing and hunting every ball down whilst causing no end of problems going forward. It was his tenacity that helped Mike bag his 2nd of the season in fortuitous circumstances. Hints of a handball from Kev following a long throw in the box saw the ball fall kindly to Mike 12 yards out, who struck a shot that the keeper looked set to parry. A slight deflection however put the trajectory of the ball too far beyond the keepers reach as Cats took a 2-0 lead going into half time.
Second half, Cat’s were against the wind and knew it would be a tough ask to maintain their clean sheet. Expecting an onslaught from Ballbois, the visitors struggled with the conditions and most ball forward were too hard or too high with Kyle gathering exceptionally well, Indy was a master class at the back often opting to run with the ball from defence relieving the constant pressure of the Ball Bois 5 man midfield.
Gary remained strong in the challenge and Dav’es positioning was exemplary today showing how much he has improved in his reading of the game.
Neil’s presence up front was a welcomed boost to Cats as he was relieving some of the pressure for the 4 man midfield of the home team. His foraging runs forward and visionary passing brought some good play from his strike partner, Kev and the rest of midfield.
With 15 minutes remaining Indy placed a powerful drive forward that fell for Keiren who bore down on goal to finish past the keeper 1 on 1. Indeed he could of had another but shot narrowly wide 5 minutes later.
Neil came close with a shot from a tight angle, and also nearly made amends for an excellent flick on that just sailed over the leap from keiren.
John Smith was excellent on the left, winning and battling for the ball at every occasion.
A change of Steve Nibblet for Keiren saw Steve do what he does best with some physical power in the middle, one excellent passage of play saw a smart layoff from the veteran which the wind just caught too much as the ball went out of play.
James replaced Kev with the final 5 of the game left, but like all good horsemen he fell at the first hurdle. Everyone thought Kev had slipped but no, it was clippety clip hee hoor hee hoor James the donkey taking a trip when trotting for a loose ball. He was however effective in that short stint of playing.
Full Time 3-0
Lads a quality team performance, a clean sheet and we are now as good as promoted. Let’s win the league with a performance against Hot Scots and get our second piece of silverware this term following our Wolves tournament victory.
Proud of you all
Cx