Mixed-A 1-1 Combwick Mixed

South's most even mixed match so far this season produced a fair draw, with both teams feeling they had chances to win.

South started like lightning and opened the scoring in the 2nd minute, when a good attack down the right wing sprung Nick Wong into the D. His shot was saved by the keeper, who was unfortunate to see the rebound fall straight to Rob Garrett, who swept the loose ball comfortably home.

South nearly doubled their lead in the fifth minute, when good interplay between Emma Clarke and Kate Nustedt gave Kate a shooting opportunity. Unfortunately, having beaten the keeper, Kate's shot hit the post and rolled agonisingly across the line, but stayed out.

After an extremely rocky opening passage, Combwick began to find their feet, with their impressive sweeper starting to break up South's attacks before launching his own team. Combwick created a few opportunities for their forwards, to which Lino Di Lorenzo in the South net prove equal.

The second-half saw Combwick throwing players forward in an attempt to get back into the game, which left the game extremely streched. South were being forced into a more defensive counterattacking mode and the visitng team shots began to test Lino, giving him the chance to shine. Especially impressive was one full length diving glove save, to stop what had seemed an almost certain goal. Another close-run thing for Combwick came when a ball near the South byline was crossed into the circle. Lino, seeing the ball had just passed out of play prior to the cross, left it alone, letting a visiting forward sweep home. Fortunately, the Combwick umpire proved as eagle-eyed as the South keeper and, to the relief of the home defence, a sixteen yard hit was awarded.

With ten minutes left, Combwick got the goal their second-half pressure had threatened, when their dangerous central midfield picked up a loose ball near the top of the circle and unleased a drag flick that, though Lino got a glove to, he couldn't for once keep out.

The teams played out a tight, scoreless last few minutes, during which the best chance fell to South, when Nick Wong's run and shot went wide, to end the match as an honourable draw.

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GK
Lino Di Lorenzo
Player of the Match

For a string of tremendous second half saves.