Godolphin 3 Foxhole 0

[Darin Morse]

Godolphin 3 Foxhole 0

Saturday 17th October 2009

From the moment Scott Flannigan's twenty-yard drive flew past stand-in keeper Nick Carpenter after only two minutes there was little chance of Foxhole improving their dismal record of only one victory in nineteen league games stretching back to March. Other than a couple of goalmouth scrambles emanating from long throws, the Foxes' inability to retain possession for more than milliseconds ensured Semmens' flourescent pink jersey remained steadfastly unblemished until Rowe's header was well saved with seventeen minutes left. By then Paxton had doubled the lead, racing clear on fifty-two minutes to clinically capitalise on Lawrence's dalliance, but had Godolphin's hitherto wayward finishing matched their intelligent build-up play, the Foxes could easily have found themselves on the receiving end of a mauling for the second successive week, while Lowry was unfortunate to see his snapshot crash against the bar.

Foxhole had been given the runaround in the first half, although their display improved marginally after the break as they attacked (I use the term loosely) up the slope. Pinhammer's left-footed effort flashed wide, and Rowe headed Holland's free-kick past the post, but generally the imposing home defence stood firm, and Godolphin's impressive use of the raking cross-field pass for wingers Martin and Rose, and latterly their replacements Wigg and Moore, proved a constant source of pressure. Thirteen minutes from time, Brown converted Rose's centre from close-range for the third, and, after Carpenter had done well on a number of occasions to restrict further damage, Eglinton's injury-time tap-in was ruled offside. Rowe and Holland were cautioned for fouls on Hawken and Brown respectively, while Flannigan spoiled his fine performance with a yellow card for dissent.

Foxhole (3-5-2): Nick Carpenter; Dexter Lawrence (sub. Ian Stone), Tony Mackellar, Daniel Meens; Sam Kenny (sub. Kelvin Greenaway), Chris Grose (sub. Adam Gamble), Adam Holland, Scott Ansell, Liam Nicholls; Mark Rowe, Ross Pinhammer.

Godolphin (4-4-2): Sean Semmens; Scott Flannigan, Aaron Hawken (sub. Ross Fallons), Ollie Pinnell, Tim Peacock; Mark Rose (sub. Dave Moore), Aiden Martin (sub. Jamie Wigg), Kyle Brown, Sam Eglinton; Lee Paxton, Phil Lowry.

Referee: Mr David Lobb (Par).