Clarence House, Formby
Scorers: Dalton (1 + pen)
After somewhat of a turn around in fortunes, Ventura travelled to Formby seeking their fifth straight win & achieved their target following a bruising encounter against Cafe D'Art, last season's bottom placed team. Despite their depressingly small total of only two points in their previous season, it was clearly apparent that Cafe D'Art had reinforced their squad substantially since then & last week's win against West Lancs helped keep Ventura focused & not too willing to get carried away with their good run.
It took all of a few minutes before the Ventura players knew this was going to be a physical game after Dalton was sent tumbling with a late tackle by the D'Art left-back. No foul was given however & the D'Art players then carried on in the same vein, their approach costing them however as Paul Leigh was brought down in the box & the ref awarding the penalty. In Ventura days gone by Trecharichi would have assumed penalty taking duties but new boy Jamie Dalton, having scored four goals on his debut the previous week, took the responsibility & promptly smashed the ball home low to the left, Ventura 1, Cafe D'Tart 0.
It was another lightning start by Ventura but this time unusually they found it difficult, on a poor pitch, to assert their authority on the game. Their cause wasn't helped by some poorly timed challenges from the D'Art players, who at times seemed more pre-occupied with arguing with the ref, than playing their football. Matty Slocombe was then called into action following a free kick & made a good reflex save to tip the ball over. Mike Hand (back from injury) then produced the most outrageous of goal-line clearances, flicking the ball away with the outside of his boot, the ball unbelievably going out for a throw-in. Not quite a scorpion kick but equally as effective. Half-time then came & gave Ventura a chance to re-group & re-organise.
The start of the second half however saw Ventura sluggish to get going again & as a result were put under a spell of pressure from Cafe D'Art, Matty Slocombe again pulling off a reflex save to keep his side in the lead. It was short-lived however as Slocombe then followed up his best moment of the match with one he will want to forget. As a cross came in the ball took a slight deflection & Matty unfortunately chose to punch rather than collect, the ball flicking up & into the Ventura net. It was harsh on the keeper & Ventura, but their luck returned moments later when the crossbar came to their rescue. A seemingly harmless shot looked destined to be sailing over until it dipped & bounced back off the bar, the defence then able to clear the ball away to safety.
The game then began to shift in Ventura's favour as they rose to the challenge of the physical game before them. Challenge being the word as Lang was denied a penalty claim before Dalton, drifting in from the right, was brought down on the edge of the box. Claims for a penalty were dismissed by the ref however as he took his time before awarding a free kick. After a game of continuous late challenging & exchanges the Cafe D'Art number four was finally booked, Conkling running forty yards to make his feelings known. Ironically the same player then caught Conkling with yet another late challenge, the ref however generously allowing him to stay on the pitch.
As D'Art tired, Jason (whose surname I still can't pronounce) then came on for Leigh & found Dalton on the right wing. From a difficult angle & with little option but to go alone, Dalton found the bottom corner with a sensational strike, so powerful that it tore the net open just inside the post. It was a deserved winner as the Ventura players would concede that they have performed better at times this season & come away with nothing.
One player who might not have celebrated so much was the Orang-Utan, who instead chose to sulk at not being included. So the run continues, five wins in a row & Ventura looking to make it six against next week's opponents, St Teresa's.
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Damo not happy at not being included Ventura tactics against Cafe D'Art |
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