Castle Colts 2 v 4 Tonbridge Invicta

Invicta inflicted a first league defeat on Castle Colts with a 4-2 win that sees them climb to 3rd place in the league. In an enthralling encounter that was a credit to both sides, there was little to choose between the teams for the first hour, with Invicta taking the honours in the final third of the game. Colts were quicker out the blocks and penned Invicta back for the opening skirmishes, but it was Invicta’s first attack that enabled them to take the lead. A great block in the Invicta box by Holmes and winning a second challenge saw the ball break to Edmeads who carried the ball up field, fed Hermitage who slipped Holmes through 1v1 with the keeper and despite a fine save, Edmeads slammed home the rebound. Colts came straight back and forced a series of corners that Invicta struggled to deal with, but Faulkner remained untroubled. The deserved equaliser came on 20 mins when a long ball from Colts own half put the home side no 11 through and a very cool finish made it 1-1. The game continued to ebb and flow with Phillips and Edmeads beginning to even things up in the middle of the park as Teddy and Holmes found themselves doing more defending than attacking in the wide midfield positions. Invicta went 2-1 up on 25 mins, when Willers picked up the ball wide on the right and reached the by-line and his cross was met by Teddy who despite the efforts of the keeper the ball crossed the line. Back came Colts with a fine save from Faulkner who tipped the ball onto the post from a point blank header and collected the rebound, a long range shot also hit the bar. With half time approaching Invicta were under real pressure and again the no 11 got behind the Invicta defence and an even better finish made it 2-2. There was still time for another attack and when Faulkner brought down a Colts attacker in first half injury time, it looked like Invicta would go into the break 2-3 down. The penalty missed the target and Invicta escaped. The second period saw the game open up as both teams were going for more goals. Chances fell at both ends with Faulkner making a superb save from a near post header and spreading himself to deny another scoring opportunity for the home side. The league’s leading goal scorer Tom Willers started to come alive and he was causing all sorts of problems in the home defence and his good work saw the ball fall to Edmeads but he shot straight at the keeper who held on well. The important break through came on 70 minutes when Holmes fed Willers and having beaten two defenders, seemed to take too long but cheekily lobbed the keeper from 12 yards. Invicta were now fighting to win every ball as they sensed victory could be achieved and both Nicholls and Freke in the centre of defence refused to be beaten. Edmeads was getting on the ball more and more and the extra possession took the heat out the game and frustrated the home side, as they could not get into the Invicta box. The game should have been sealed when Edmeads fired wide with the goal at his mercy, but shortly after the prolific Willers hit his 18th of the season firing into the top left hand corner on 80 mins. Invicta safely played out the final 10 mins to secure a vital 3 points. Credit to all 13 players who produced an excellent all round performance with Mozza Holmes earning man of the match for his overall contribution in defence and attack and thoroughly deserving a run in the team.

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When	2008-01-06 18:47 2008-01-06 18:47 2008-01-06 from 18:47 to 18:47
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