Swallows too strong for Falcons

Football has a habit of creating big games.  Man Utd v Liverpool at Old Trafford. Arsenal v Tottenham at the Emirates. Wednesday v Utd at Hillsborough. Real Madrid v Barcelona at the Nou Camp. And now Swallownest Juniors v Beighton Falcons at Rainbow Forge Primary School Recreation Ground.

The stage was set for a cracking mornings football for the U14s. Bitterly cold. Snowclouds gathering. A local derby. Ex Swallows players Joe Cotterill and Joe Pearson in the Beighton line up. And both teams flying high in F Division on the same points with Swallows having a game in hand.

Before we go any further we start with a thank you to the Beighton manager and parents for agreeing to play this fixture earlier in the day to allow Swallows to field midfielder Matt Denton - who was to head off on holiday to Spain later in the day.  Thank you Falcons - excellent sportsmanship.

As is often the case in fixtures like this - it was a nervy start as both teams struggled to find their form. 15 minutes of scrappy end-to-end play with neither team able to find the goal that would settle things down.  To be fair Beighton certainly had the upper hand in this opening exchange.

Beighton went close first hitting the side-netting with a shot from the right that most supporters on the touchline thought was in!

Swallows hit back with a shot just wide from Boot, who followed that effort just a minute later with a shot/cross that went wide again.

Beightons number 9 was next played through and clear but shot well over the bar.

On 21 mins a great flick on in midfield allowed Beightons number 10 to race wide and control inside the Swallows box placing the ball inside Ryan Marsh's front post to deservedly put Beighton 1-0 up.

Swallows came straight back with some good pressure which led to a number of corners, and Nathan Hewitt was brought down inside the Beighton 6 yard box.  The penalty appeals were granted and  Taylor slotted the ball to the right of the keeper to make it 1-1

Half Time 1-1

The second half kicked off with Swallows now enjoying the downhill gradient with the wind at their backs that had given Beighton such impetus in the first half.  Again Swallows set-pieces were working well, subs Kiddy and Sellars combining brilliantly from the corner with Kiddys eventual chip going just over.

Beighton were very quiet at this point and seemed content to soak up the pressure being applied.

A Swallows cross from the left found Curtis Boot, who's header was just wide again.

A hard shot from Nathan Hewitt was pushed wide by Beightons keeper and it was starting to look like the pressure wouldn't convert to goals when a brilliant solo effort by Reece Taylor brought the goal the Swallows players craved.  Taylor picked up the ball midway into Beightons half, jinked past 5 Falcons players and hit a stunning goal into the right hand of the net. 2-1 to swallows.

The Swallows sealed the victory with a low shot from Jamie Butler from the edge of the box which squeezed under the outstretched Beighton keeper to make it 3-1

Beighton rallied at this point and were unlucky not to score a consolation goal after a superb chip was ruled out by the offside flag.

It was a thoroughly professional performance overall to reclaim top spot in the table and if Swallows can maintain their start to the season it will take a great performance from somebody to bring their run to an end.  On a side note everybody at the Swallows would like to wish Joe Cotterill and Joe Pearson speedy recoveries from the injuries they picked up in todays game.

FULL TIME - Beighton Falcons 1 - 3 Swallows

Man of the Match : Joe Morris - in the Managers words "he absolutely won everything in midfield today, top drawer headers and some of the best tackles you will see this season - well done Joe"