Saints Through to Semi Finals

This game was a must win for both teams in their pursuit of reaching the semifinals of the Cornwall FA Flexi League. For St Neot, this was their final game of the league element, a win and they confirmed second spot, a draw would leave them in limbo and a loss… that wasn’t in any of the Saints players’ vocabulary. For Looe it was two fixtures to determine their league standing. The pressure was all on the Saints.

The game got off to a blistering start and it saw a promising St Neot attack from the left wing with Corson passing into the center to Scott Kemp. Kemp alone on the edge of the box and with just the keeper to beat squander a very early opportunity but it was clear that St. Neot were up for the game. But a few minutes in, Saints midfielder Adam Keen landed heavily on his side. The injury to Keen stopped the flow of the game, and Looe capitalized on the luffing sails of the St Neot attack. A fine strike shortly after the stoppage, proceeded under 3 Saints defenders and to the right of O’Regan in goal and saw Looe take a one goal lead into the break.  It transpired later  from the hospital that Keen had dislocated his shoulder.

Words of inspiration must have been delivered by Saints manager Adam Bainbridge, as St Neot looked different and more confident from the beginning of the 2^nd half.  The Saints midfield took control and 10 minutes from the restart, new signing Chris Brown ran at the Looe defense.  He took on and skipped around the defenders with easy and a snap shot, whistled through the air to end up in the back of the net.  Three minutes later a pacey and exuberant Scott Corson got a second for the Saints setting up a nervous final fifteen.

The Looe team, gave Saints a hell of a final quarter of an hour, opputunites came and went for both teams, but St. Neots desire was more apparent, knowing the stakes.

Ultimately, from a St Neot perspective, this was an outstanding performance, with Manager Bainbridge’s tinkering paying dividends.  Each man knew their job and executed it well. Post-game Bainbridge praised the spirit shown “ I don’t have the superlatives to describe the performance tonight. Bloody brilliant all around from everyone involved. Big squad effort and a well-deserved victory”

This victory sees St Neot progress to the semi final of the flexi league to play the winners of Tuesday night’s league. This fixture will be played next Tuesday 5^th April at Callywith Collge with the changed kick off time of 7:15pm

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Starting Line-up: O’Regan, German, Keen, King, Davey, Kemp, Brown, Bryant, Corson, Bartlett, Berry

Subs: Banyard, Crowle, Graham

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Saints MoM: Brown

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