Thursday 5 April 2007

Probus1-1 Grampound

(Duchy League Div 3)
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A strong Probus team began the game well, with Grampound showing again that they can be slow starters, but the first real opportunity fell to Matt Fletcher who headed just over at Grampound's first corner. For most of the half Probus had the majority of possession but Fletcher and James Webb gave Liam Paddock and Chris Heywood little time to settle and Ford stayed very well protected. Ross Turton gave the Probus defence a torrid time as he twisted and turned to create shooting chances, and Ryan Maker beat a defender and hit a shot from ten yards which was beaten away by Ross Paddock in the Probus goal. Grampound took the lead on 25 minutes when a ball down the channel saw a mix-up between a Probus defender and his keeper and Turton nipped in to slide the loose ball home. Probus heads dropped as they saw their superiority in possession had still resulted in them being behind and Grampound pushed forward to try and finish the game. This nearly happened when some neat passing allowed Greg Dunn to cross to the far post where Nathan Cooper met the ball perfectly only for his header to shave the outside of the post when he should have scored. Probus ended the half struggling to keep in the match but a re-jig of their line-up in the second half gave them fresh hope. Grampound should have extended their lead after just two second half minutes when Turton was released down the right but his lob over the advancing keeper was wayward and Probus escaped. Grampound then had another excellent chance when good passing and movement allowed Maker to feed Turton, but his pass to Weeks was a little too strong and Probus escaped again. Minutes later Probus got their equaliser when a couple of tackles were missed down Grampound's left and a low cross came in and was met by Paddock who hit the ball neatly past Tony Ford. Grampound spent much of the rest of the match, about 30 minutes, defending as they found it difficult to keep possession and Probus flooded forward, but little was given in the way of chances. An awful, dangerous tackle by Penhaligon on Webb saw the Probus player booked, when a red card might have been the outcome, and Fletcher caught Bishop when stretching and also earned a yellow card, his first of the season.

Although the final whistle was a relief for Grampound, with Probus having had the lion's share of possession, Tony Ford did not have too much to do in the Grampound goal, whereas over the 90 minutes his Probus counterpart Paddock had to make some good catches and a couple of important saves. Grampound, however, were satisfied with a point against a Probus side which has had excellent results in recent months.

Squad

1. Ford T
2. Webb J
3. Leaney
4. Fletcher
5. Dunn D
6. Cooper
7. Maker
8. Ford G
9. Dunn G
10. Weeks
11. Turton (sub Toms, 75)

Goals

Turton

Man of the Match

Matt Fletcher and James Webb : joint award

Yellow Cards

Matt Fletcher

Red Cards

Nonen of the Match Yellow Cards Red Cards