MATCH REPORT 15/12/2007 RESERVES

This week with Marshy back Freethorpe were 2-1 up after about 30 mins. After this Horsford had all the play with Freethorpe hitting the post twice on the break and it stayed like this untill the last 10 mins when Freethorpe managed to concede 3! the last two after we were down to 10 due to an injury. Scorer A.Marsh 2 . Thanks to Willie and Teresa for their continued support.

MATCH REPORT 15/12/07 FIRST TEAM

For the third time in four weeks Freethorpe were up against second division opposition. And although this week the result was not favourable the performance was very commendable. In the quarter finals of the Cyrill Balyn Cup hosts Horsford Utd took the lead after just 3 minutes when the alert striker atttacked the near post from a well taken corner. Freethorpe regrouped and gradually played themselves into the game and topscorer Rix equalised on 20 minutes with an exsquisite finish from a very acute angle. Horsford regained their lead 5 minutes later when the striker turned inside Burns and stuck home into the far corner. Once again Freethorpe showed tremendous character against higher opposition and fought back to equalise when Mark Brown finished a good run down the right flank with a well taken goal. The second half saw Freethorpe start to dominate the play and on a number of occasions had their opponents on the backfoot. The midfield got hold of the first ball and used it wisely to create problems for the home team. With 15 minutes remaining a decisive moment in the game happenend when the alert Read latched onto a throughball and rounded the keeper before drilling the ball across the face of the goal to Rix who was extremely unlucky to put the ball over the bar from close range following a last ditch deflection from a lunging defender. Freethorpe were to rue the missed chance when with 5 minutes remaining Horsford took the lead at a freekick. Freethorpe immediately pushed forward in search of an equaliser and got caught to concede another late goal to make the final score 4-2. A very good cup tie with both teams competing extremely well and Freethorpe can consider themselves unlucky to have lost. Good luck to Horsford in the next round. Next Match: away to Newton Flotman 2pm kick off.

MATCH REPORT 8/12/07 RESERVES

Freethorpe Res v Sporle

Current mood: rejuvenated

Category: Sports

If Freethorpes defence had gone missing the last couple of weeks they more than made up for it this week , not only keeping a clean sheet but scoring two of the three goals that took the Res to the fourth round of the Primary cup. From the start it was clear that Sporle were a very good footballing side but Freethorpe took full advantage of kicking down hill and the strong wind to go 3-0 up in the first half with goals from Craig , David and another from Dazler. It was clear Freethorpe would spend all of the second half defending their lead and this they did well as a team with good goal kicks from Gooders , the front men holding the ball up well when they got it and everybody else giving their all. As the game went on the rain got harder the pitch got worse (was that rain or tears in Winkles eyes ?) to resemble a mud bath. But despite all this Gooders in goal only had a couple of saves to make. More of the same next week pl

MATCH REPORT 8/12/07 FIRST TEAM

After last weeks disappointing exit from the Norfolk Junior Cup Freethorpe travelled to rivals Marlingford in a league encounter. The conditions were difficult with wind and rain in abundance. Freethorpe seemed to cope very well and started the game extremely sprightly putting Marlingford on the back foot for much of the opening half hour. Then in a mad 15 minutes before halftime the game was lost. The good work that had gone before was cancelled out with individual errors causing three out of the four goals that Marlingford proceeded to score. This put the game out of reach. The object of the second half was to restore some pride and continue to show plenty of character. This was achieved albeit after conceding yet another cheap goal. Read scored a consolation for Freethorpe. The quality of play at times was exceptional especially when considering the conditions and unbelievably Marlingford were restricted to only a couple of real chances in the game but somehow ended up with five goals. This is a game we must put behind us and what is important is how we react to the recent couple of setbacks that we have had. Time to stay united and continue to believe in ourselves. Next Match: Away to Horsford Utd in Q/Finals of Cyril Ballyn Cup. 1.30pm Kick off.

MATCH REPORT 1/12/07 RESERVES

Freethorpe Res v Hempnall A This week we played Hempnall at Saxlingham ? and played some of the best football we have played all season and managed to lose 4-2 which would have been 5 were it not for a great double pentley save from Ben. With two of our fowards missing and our defence playing like they had gone to the pitch Hempnall Freethorpe could not convert their many chances with Fiddy really needing one of those goals on wheels. On the plus side Dazler came on with 20 mins to go and scored the goal he promised he would and Dan got rewarded for all his hard work with a goal near the end

MATCH REPORT 1/12/07 FIRST TEAM

For the second week in succession Freethorpe were pitting their wits against Anglian Combination Division Two opposition. This time it was Poringland Wanderers in the Norfolk Junior Cup. The two teams met at the same stage last year with Freethorpe looking to make amends for the 3-2 defeat. Playing into a very strong headwind Freethorpe started brightly and contested very well against a strong Poringland side. It took time for both teams to adapt to the conditions but on the first real attack of any purpose in the game Freethorpe took the lead when Hurley burst into the box and Read pounced on the loose ball to slide past the advancing keeper. Although Poringland enjoyed slightly more possession Freethorpe were matching their opponents and limited the visitors to long range efforts. The only real threat seemed to be from set pieces and so it proved. On 25 minutes the ball was whipped into the Freethorpe penalty area across the face of the goal from a freekick and was allowed to reach the far post unchallenged allowing Poringland to nip in and score from close range. Stand in keeper Marsh then made an excellent double save to keep Freethorpe on level terms. Freethorpe regrouped and looked to be safely heading to halftime when from another freekick the Freethorpe keeper spilled and the alert Poringland striker pounced to take the lead. The second half was also a very tight affair with chances at a premium at both ends. Poringland remained strong as did the Freethorpe defence who were excellent throughout and probably did not deserve to be on the losing side. However, for all the probing Freethorpe could not carve out the chance to remain in the cup. Great effort lads. Best of luck to Poringland in the next round. Back to league action this week. Next match: Away to Marlingford 2pm Kick off.