Eccles 3 vs 0 Blackham And Ashurst Sarac

<p>This was our first appearance in the Kent Cup since we lost 12-0 back in the early 90's so we were determined to give a good account of ourselves.&nbsp; Despite a few squad members not fancying the long trip to Eccles just the other side of Maidstone and coming up with some interesting excuses why they couldn't play&nbsp;we made the trip with 12 players.

<p>Our opponents we're flying high in the Maidstone Premier league and had knocked a Kent county side in Rusthall 2nd's out of the charity cup the week before so we knew they would be no mugs.&nbsp; The first half was tight with fairly even possession, the home side probably had the better of&nbsp;the chances in the first 35 minutes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mr Ed was standing tall at the back against a very physical and competitive centre forward and the boys up top were chasing everything down and working there nuts off.&nbsp; After a couple of scares Eccles finally broke the deadlock with a headed goal that reeked of offside,&nbsp;2Gun Willy running the line claimed the sun was in his eyes.&nbsp; Either way we&nbsp;felt hard done by to be 1-0 down at half time.&nbsp; The&nbsp;2nd half bought new hope with some well worked chances for the B&A boys but no one could find a finishing touch. Even their stylish left back Adam Harrison had a sniff of goal but it just wouldn't sit down in time for him to get a shot off.&nbsp; A cruel twist saw the home side double their advantage against the run of play.&nbsp; A routine corner but no one took it upon themselves to mark the near post, a&nbsp;back stick header was then looped over Brown Bears head and dropped in at the near post.&nbsp; This took&nbsp;the wind out of everyone's sails a bit but the boys kept pushing on.&nbsp; This was possibly the best side we'd faced this season but we gave as good as we got and played some good football at times.&nbsp; Gozzy was slipped in by Thom thumb&nbsp;and would&nbsp;no doubt have scored if he had not been flagged offside.&nbsp; With a few minutes remaining they made it 3-0 with a neat strike from 12 yards out just squeezing&nbsp;in past Brown Bears outstretched paw.&nbsp; 3-0 really did flatter them somewhat and&nbsp;I don&rsquo;t think they would mind me saying so.&nbsp; They&nbsp;knew they had been in a competitive game this afternoon.&nbsp; It was Gentleman Jim's 1st 90 minutes for&nbsp;over a year&nbsp;and he didn't disgrace himself&nbsp;despite the score line.&nbsp; We were also complemented in the pub afterwards by a number of their players and supporters&nbsp;on how well we played and&nbsp;our work ethic through the team especially our front two, so there&nbsp;were&nbsp;plenty of positives to take from the game&nbsp;

<p>We were also well supported by our travelling barmy army and must say a big thanks to them for making the long trip. Mr Nowell, Mr Freeman, Hound and Co and of course our management team of Niceguy and Pat.&nbsp; Well done guys, we're lucky to have you&nbsp;lot.&nbsp;

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