Match Report 24

Racing Club Fantana fought back from 3-1 down to rescue a point in their showcase opener against Goresbrook United. In a match dominated by the wind, Racing did all they could in the first half to get the ball down and play. Against the run of play, Goresbrook took the lead with a well rehearsed set play. A long throw was launched into the box and one of the many big men United possess leaped to glance the ball into the top left hand corner leaving stand-in goalkeeper Bradley Micallef stranded. This sparked Fantana into life - they kept possesion for long periods and opened up Goresbrook on numerous occassion's. Unfortunately for the Greens, they could not find that decisive finish they were looking for and began to grow frustrated. Goresbrook are a team who clearly like to mix it, and were punished by the referee on a couple of occasions for over excitable challenges. Goresbrook must have been ecstatic to take in a one nil lead at the break. Apart from the effort they scored from, they did not muster a chance worthy of note. The message from the Fantana bench must have been 'it will come'. Fantana flew out of the blocks in the second half and levelled things up when a free kick was won after a sustained spell of pressure. James Spicer stepped up to drill the ball low and hard into the bottom right hand corner from fully twenty yards. You would have expected the home side to push on from there, but rather than capitalise on the further chances they created, a penalty was conceded by centre half Terry Prati. Goresbrook United's No.12 stepped up to take a confident penalty into Micallef's right hand side. The Fantana Manager nearly kept it out, but the quality of the strike meant even a hand probably wouldn't have been enough. Russell Leiter was withdrawn for Danny Giemanjer. Giemanjer had looked lively in pre-season and the Green and Black faithful were hoping for some magic from the 'G-Spot'. Fantana began to look frantic, with misplaced passes and overplaying at the back. Chances came and went begging and it began to look like the the recently promoted side were struggling for ideas. Goresbrook increased their lead to two goals when they worked the ball out wide to their chunky winger (No.7). With Fantana looking stretched, he drilled a low shot across the keeper who parried out to their waiting No.9 who finished confidently. The counter attack had caught their opponents out and the 3 points looked certain to be heading for the A13. Akash Bhuwanee was replaced by Fantana stalwart Chris Tilbury. A collision in the United area resulted in a gashed leg for their No.14 - their substitute Goalkeeper also went down for a prolonged period with a dead thigh. Goresbrook had used all of their substitutes so they were left with 10 men for the remaining 20mins. Fantana stepped it up, with Terry Prati pushing on into midfield, they set about clawing the game back. A corner from the right by TP was pushed in by the United goalkeeper after good pressure from James Spicer. 3-2 - Game on. In the final ten minutes, Stephen Clarke escaped down the right hand side and delivered an exquisite pull back for James Spicer to level things up for Fantana. Could they find that winner they so desperately craved? A final bombardment from Fantana came, but to be fair to Goresbrook, they defended in numbers and made some vital interceptions and clearances. The final whistle blew with mixed emotions from the both camps. Racing Club Fantana: Micallef, Fikret, Bhuwanee (Tilbury 70), T.Prati, R.Prati, Clarke, Sack, Waithe, Leiter (Giemanjer 55), Day, Spicer Goals: Spicer 2, OG. We mananged to sneak a quick word with Racing Club Fantana supremo Bradley Micallef after the game; OC: Bradley, pleased with the result? BM: Absolutely not. Although we were never infront, it is extremely disappointing to drop two points in our opening game. We passed them off the pitch in the first half - we paid the price for trying to walk the ball into the goal. All credit to Goresbrook, they clearly have a game plan. They are all big lads, like to get the ball forward and like putting their foot in. I feel like we've lost though. OC: What do you put it down to then? BM: You can never underestimate the power of organisation. Having to change pitches, being rushed out of changing rooms and having late squad withdrawels have cost us. Lets just put it down the teething problems. Let it be known though, I wont accept another second half performance like that again all season. Ive got plenty of players and they will get used.