Woodbine Wanderers 3 vs 3 Prince Of Wales FC

<p>A frosty morning over 4 Ashes then especially for me , arriving stupidly early to give you lot the chance of a deserved lie in , or at least an opportunity &nbsp;to help with the housework . Disappointly I waited and waited , the only sign of civilization being other refees to swiftly call OFF the other pitches with the ground rock hard . As my texts signalled the need for you all to start out on an apparently fruitless journey , the home side arrived ...in force ! About 20 blokes keen to brave the elements and get the match on ! The Ref eventually made an appearance at 10am (good of him) and incredulously gave chance to the pitch being fit to play , declaring a 15 minute delay to allow for thawing ha ha . As the Prince lads arrived it seemed we had a decent turnout , good to see Wayne available again , if only until his much awaited operation . Amazingly the Ref said ' Game on but no tackling ' ! and everyone got changed in a state of shock . As we got onto the pitch , now freezing my bollocks off , I announced that we needed to focus on the game and try to put the conditions to the back of our mind . Not everyone agreed so that man Mr Toone had to step up to the mark in goal .&nbsp; We countered the conditions very well and after 20 minutes , only a corner of the pitch was hard&nbsp;. A fantastic strike from Woodbine sent the high riding Division 3 side ahead , and with Ben struggling our defence were left for dead when they notched a second . At this stage they pounded us and Kris Toone pulled off a succesion of fine saves to keep us within reach and looking respectable . Indeed some of his leaps sent me back to Gordon Banks&nbsp; 1970 bringing a nostalgic tear to my frostbitten features . Geoff again grafted down the left and played in&nbsp;Colin neatly to peg us a goal back , only for the Woodbines to go into the interval when a cross ricoched off Anton past the helpless Toone , lost without his briefcase . Despite being 3-1 in deficit we hit back well after the break , Anton battling now up front and Colin floating in some glorious balls for&nbsp;him and &nbsp;Geoff . Credit to Ben Lawley for playing again despite his long term injury&nbsp; but when Wayne moved into the centre it made our defence look far more composed and organized . Lawley had to limp off but Campbell slotted back to LB and did well&nbsp; as Squizz came on and also played a blinder ,linking superbly with the ever present Geoff Smith . Coops and Toon got better as the game went on and we had the majority of possession second half . Inevitably top scorer Colin went on a solo burst and clinically pulled one back and Anton gave us an extra half hour&nbsp; by chesting the ball deftly into the path of Super-Cooper for our equalizer . What a fightback ! With Roberts struggling for current form , Grant had come on by now and put in a good effort , only for our opponents to score a soft winner in the first minute of extra time . The game opened up as both teams looked done in after the winter lay off . Smith was clipped in the box but to his credit stayed on his feet&nbsp; and the home side also had to be denied by Toone once again before the ref drew proceedings to a halt . Wee lads once again my dream of a Cup Trophy goes down the pan but I am heartened by the attitude of the men that took part today . News of a welcome new signing this week , much welcome after the plethora of let-downs from a chunk of people putting pen to paper this campaign . You live and learn...even at 55 ! Bye Bye for now ....Grandad Baz .

<p style="text-align: center;">Toone ...not happy with conditions but very willing !

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