After a confidence building win in Round 1 the Loko Over 35s travelled to Rowland Park to take on one of the more highly rated squads in the division. Pagewood-Botany A was coming off an 8-1 victory in the opening round, so a tough match was expected. Tony tweaked the game plan to take into account the opposition’s strengths and even had a two man bench at his disposal.
Pagewood started strongly and had the majority of possession, but against the run of play, Loko opened the scoring after five minutes. Paul chased down what seemed to be a lost cause into the Pagewood final third and managed to get a foot in as the Pagewood defender tried shepherding the ball over the goal line. The low cross made it to Gordon who got in first to poke home from two yards and open his account for the season.
Pagewood were dominating possession, working the ball into dangerous areas almost at will. It seemed only a matter of time before that possession resulted in an equalising goal. The Cove back three of Brendan, Peter and Simon had other ideas however and were turning away most of the attacks. Those times that they couldn’t repel the attack, goalkeeper Pieter was on hand, making a number of quality stops against on-target efforts.
Gordon and Shane both left the park injured and it was all hands to the pump again as Tony and Jason took up where the others had left off in defence. A clearance from Tony found its way to Scott who ranged down the right flank before cutting in and tucking the ball into the top left corner to double Loko’s advantage.
It didn’t take long before a goal-mouth scramble allowed Pagewood to grab one back however. The defence could only clear a corner 25 yards before a return shot aimed at the top left corner. Jason’s attempted header on the line couldn’t stop the rocket from gliding under the bar. Scott had another gilt-edged opportunity to restore the advantage after cutting out a ball across the Pagewood defence and racing through alone on goal. His strike however floated just beyond the right post.
It remained 2-1 after the break as Pagewood peppered the Loko goal, either being foiled by the defence, the goalkeeper, or their own inability to hit the target. Loko’s best effort came when Scott crossed for Adrian at the back post, but the Pagewood custodian was up to the headed shot. With 20 minutes to go, another ball cleared to Scott allowed him to slip both of his markers. This time he made no mistake, rounding the goalkeeper and passing the ball into the open net.
Ten minutes from time, a Pagewood set piece on the right was turned in by a glancing header, setting up a grandstand finish. The Cove had ten behind the ball most of that time and continued to frustrate the home side’s wave after wave of attack until the final whistle went. Pieter VR just ousted Peter T for player of the match honours. Next week, the 35s will return to the same venue to take on Pagewood-Botany B.
Goals – Scott (2), Gordon
Player of the Match: Pieter VR