[JonInMiddleGA]

Dec 15, 2012
Blyth (22nd in BSBP) vs Cambridge (14th in BSBP) - 1st Round FA Trophy

This time they're 4:6 favorites, we're 7:2 underdogs. 4-4-2 Attacking to open.

GK: Knight
D: Kulsten, Jones, Sinclair, Groves
MF: Phillips, Morrison, White, Whiteley
F: Mole, Clarke-Harris
Bench: (Slaughter, Purvis, Armstrong, Wedderburn, Dovey )

0:30 - Clarke-Harris breaks free off the kickoff and is denied on a fair chance one-on-one by the keeper
16:00 - Clarke-Harris hobbles off for a bit of treatment
21:00 - Clarke-Harris slides to his left in the area to avoid a tackle ... shoots .. wide right
28:30 - Clarke-Harris runs down the middle ... shoots ... wide left, badly

Halftime - Shots are even 4-4, Poss. is ours (55%), passing is much improved (74%) ... and still we're scoreless. And Clarke-Harris is almost spent, tried his best to get us going.

49:20 - Clarke-Harris with a nice run deep into the area ... crossing attempt is blocked ... Morrison pounces on the loose ball at the arc ... dumps a pass to Phillips in the area to his left ... off the post

57:00 - Pugh in the area for a try ... Knight blocks it ... Groves bumps into Pugh on the rebound ... foul ... Penalty! WTF? Oh come on, are you kidding me?
57:30 - Atiku steps up for the try ... fires ... BLOCKED by Knight ... cleared to the touch by Phillips ... Switch to Standard, probably just for a bit, we're getting awfully tired
59:15 - Atiku finds himself somehow alone in the area, one-on-one ... again Knight denies him
61:45 - Morrison taps a pass to Mole at the arc ... he taps to Clarke-Harris nearby, he'll turn and shoot ... a reflex save denies him again
66:05 -- Clarke-Harris weaves in traffic down the middle ... knocks a pass toward the right corner to no one ... Whiteley catches with it & hoofs a near desperation cross toward the box ... it hits a defender ... and goes in !!! (1-0) An own goal suddenly puts us in front.

Sub Wedderburn for Clarke-Harris (spent), Sub Slaughter for Kulsten (spent)
Switch to Counter

71:10 - A corner to the far post ... Hudson is there for Cambridge ... his header is true (1-1) ... Dammit. Switch to Standard
73:00 - Mole to White on the left side ... shot ... punched away
73:30 - Phillips with a corner to the far side for Sinclair ... header comes up short & bounces .. Atiku clears it off the line
85:00 - Sub Armstrong for Whiteley (exhausted) ... Groves to MR, Sinclair to RD, Wedderburn to DC, White back to CM ... switch to Attacking
89:00 - Pugh whistles a shot that Knight can only tip over the bar ... Slaughter clears the ensuing corner
89:00 - 3mins added time
91:00 - Armstrong in tight ... tackled out for a corner
92:15 - Slaughter with a long throw into the box ... they knock it out

Fulltime - So close. So very close. I tell them I'm happy with the performance & for the first time in a while I actually mean it. Got outshot 11-8 but we gave them all they wanted for sure. And screw the match ratings, Clarke-Harris put on one of the finest performances I've seen from any player since I arrived at Blyth. Alas, in the end we still didn't score a goal for ourselves & all we get is a replay on the road.

Knight 6.8
Kulsten 6.8, Jones 6.8, Sinclair 7.0, Groves 6.8
Phillips 6.7, Morrison 6.6, White 6.7, Whiteley 6.6
Mole 6.6, Clarke-Harris 6.4
Subs: Slaughter 6.5, Wedderburn 6.4, Armstrong N/A

Dec 15, 2012 (postmatch)
Won't take long for the replay, it's next Wednesday Dec 19th. That in turn shifts our league match against Stockport to Sat Dec 22nd.