18/02/26 Kestrels 4-3 DMU 2s

Match Report:

Kestrels 4 - 3 DMU 2s

Goals:

Conal x2

Oscar x2

Assists:

Oscar x1

Alex x1

Ryaan x1

After a 2-2 draw at home earlier in the season, the Kezzies were eager to come home from Leicester with a win.

The match kicked off with the Kestrels dominating immediately, with two dangerous crosses not being able to be met in the box. Despite our start, the Kestrels were not the first to have a clear-cut chance, with Craig having to make a crucial save early in the game to keep it even. The Kestrels had to make a statement in reply. Toby fizzed a ball in to Oscar who held it up beautifully and layed it off to Conal who was through on goal, and a tidy finish (against a static keeper) marked a goal on the debut. This lead unfortunately would not last, with a short back-pass (less said the better) being intercepted by the DMU striker who finished. Straight from kick-off, DMU once again intercepted and a shot from distance managed to find its way in. Now it was the Kestrels on the back foot. 1-0 up to 2-1 down within two minutes. We had to go back to what we knew worked. This time it was Alex who fizzed it into Oscar, and once again the ball found it’s way to Conal who finished against the once again stuck-in-the-mud keeper. The Kezzies went into half-time level, disappointed that we were not leading.

2-2 HT

After what felt like an hour, DMU emerged from the changers for the second half. It was at this point that the DMU ultras turned up. With their repeated comments aimed at many of the team’s Mothers and threats toward the referee, they were an unwanted addition to the second half. Like the first half, we made it hard for ourselves with DMU scoring from a rebound. All three of DMU’s goals had been assisted by the Kestrels, we were nothing if not creative. Conal came close to an equaliser but bottled the hat-trick with the shot being shinned onto the inside of the post. It was Oscar, after orchestrating the first two goals, who found a breakthrough with DMU having their turn at being sloppy at the back, and a cheeky Ozil style bounce-shot nestled in the corner. The Kestrels knew that anything but a win would be disappointing, we had to keep going. Ryaan played it to Oscar, who striked the ball into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box. We were 4-3 up now and the already shoddy pitch suffered from multiple (appropriate) knee-slides. The Kestrels had to hold on for the next 7 minutes, and we did (No thanks to an extravagant heel-to-heel flick at the back from Prezmek that gave the ball straight to DMU just outside our area which they nearly scored from).

4-3 FT

18.02.26