Match Report - ESPA JUNIORS U12 SAINTS - 26 Jan 2019

Chipstead's attempts to win a third consecutive match were foiled by a combination of defensive errors and poor decisions from the ESPA linesman.

Despite a promising start Chipstead again struggled to convert their build up play into shots on goal. Particularly impressive was the opponents No. 11 who man-marked Ayden throughout the match.

Dangerous on the break,, ESPA constantly tested the Chipstead defence with balls over their backline with Nico saving well after 8 minutes .

With Chipstead's backline frequently failing to push up ESPA opened the scoring when a through ball on the left was taken on by their striker who slotted the ball home from an advancing Nico,

Within 2 minutes Chipstead were further behind to an own goal when a long distance shot which was covered by Nico, was unfortunately headed into the net by Jack.

Despite this setback, Chipstead continued to try to press forward with Ashton putting in a number of great diagonal balls which our players were just unable to capitalise on.

At the other end, ESPA made several quick counter-attacks with Nico making a superb double save to prevent a third goal.

Hope in getting some kind of result was raised late in the first half when Ashton latched onto a headed ball from Aydan to fire home past the ESPA keeper.

The second half saw a more energised Chipstead pressing forward. However, the ESPA keeper was rarely tested by the shot shy Chips who became increasingly frustated with their opponents who took every opportunity to break up play with their players going down with questionable injuries.

The poor interpretation of the offside rule from the ESPA linesman added to Chipstead's dissatisfaction which culminated in a Chipstead equaliser being dissallowed for offside in the last 5 minutes of the game.

Overall, despite a clearly biased linesman, good fighting qualities were 4displayed by the boys. However, there will be plenty for the coaches to work on before Chipstead's away fixture next Saturday.