Ravens 3- 5 The Knights

After the fabulous result the week before Ravens were buzzing like a bee on steroids, a good performance was needed to keep the run going when we met Knights in the next match. We knew it was going to be a tough match but were quietly confident we could claim the points.
The game began slowly with Ravens panicking on the ball and giving it to the Knights which kept the pressure on the defence. Despite this Ravens were denied a blatent penalty when Rob Olding was chopped down in the box like a Christmas tree in early December. The Knights took the lead midway through the first half from a set piece courtesy of some poor marking leaving several players unmarked, this was extremely disappointing and this disappointment was doubled when from another set piece The Knights doubled their advantage down to poor marking and communication. By this time several players were becoming extremely frustrated and let it affect their performance. Before the break Ravens conceded another goal.
We all went into the break frustrated and disheartened, but after talking about what was going wrong things changed at the start of the second half when we moved up a gear by pulling 1 back thanks to a great knockdown header from Ross Evans followed by another headed through ball by Matt Hennessy finished of brilliantly by Rob Olding. This got us going and we began to play some much better football and then we doubled our tally thanks to a superb finish from Ross Evans on the half volley from an impossible angle. By this time we thought we had a good chance of taking the points, this was made more difficult when Knights added another thanks to another awful decision by the man in black, or should I say pea green, who must have thought our shot stopper Sadler was an envelope and needed a stamp. The ball then rolled to another Knightster who saw his shot saved by John Burdett who genuinely thought that he had read in the Sunday Social manual that it clearly stated that we were playing rush goalie. The ref who had clearly not read the small print awarded a penalty. Unbelievable. This was converted against our goalkeeper who could hardly walk. They then added another to make it 5-2. However John Burdett was clearly angry at his injustice at the other end that he planted a looping shot past the goalkeeper from a corner to make it 5-3. That is how it ended with a much better second half display.

Player Ratings
Grant Sadler- 8- Made some great stops and could not be blamed for any of the goals, kept going despite being stamped on.
Kyle Moss-7- Dealt with the threat down his side very well. A consistent performer.
John Burdett-6- Nice goal not bad in the air either.
Kev Brooks-6- A few lapses of concentration but generally dealt with the threat of pace very well.
Rob Bentham-6- Another consistent performer who uses his pace well.
Jamie Hawthorne-5- Could not properly get into the game but worker hard and defended solidly.
Tim Browne-6- Battled well and kept the ball on the floor which helped a lot with several attacks.
Matt Hennessy-5- Some good through balls, but not at his best.
Ollie Patterson-6- Controlled the pace of our attacks well and put his foot in when needed like an Irish dancer.
Ross Evans-7- Fantastic finish for his goal, worked hard and good in the air yet again.
Rob Olding-6- Well taken goal, found it difficult to get into the game with a lack of service.
Substitutes
Mike Packer-6- Worked like a Trojan and is starting to look more comfortable with the ball at his feet.
Liam Dodsley-5- Was more comfortable when moved back into centre back.
Tarik Foley-5- Unlucky not to start and played out of position, still worked hard but to no Port Vale.