Sheffield F.C. vs Boston United
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| They're the oldest club in the World don't you know? |
The first pre-season game I've seen Boston play. A new hope for the new season? Sort of. Sheffield F.C. were our hosts, the oldest club in the World. That's right the OLDEST CLUB IN THE WORLD! Not that they like to shout about it or anything. Don't believe me? Take a look at their
website. The trip up to Derbyshire was reasonably pleasant and it is Derbyshire regardless of the 'Welcome to Yorkshire' advertising hoardings, maybe geography is not big on the local syllabus.
The
Coach and Horses ground is not far from the station and once you actually get there the pub from which it gets it's name is well stocked with some good ale. Inside the ground is nothing special, a seated stand behind one goal and a shed along one side. The ground is surrounded by hard standing on the other two sides. Standing is not allowed in front of the seated end and this is enforced by jobs-worth stewarding regardless of common sense, so nothing new there.
Boston started a heavily changed side and in the early stages were on a fairly equal footing with Sheffield F.C. The Pilgrims started to pick up, with new boy Miles Hunter looking very sharp. Hunter's contribution was vital in the first goal as he flicked on a through ball for
Suarez to fire home on 21 minutes. Boston had a few more chances but some excellent goal keeping from the portly Sheffield number one
(Leigh Walker) denied the best chance from a fit-again Adam Millson. This was a sigh of things to come as keeper played a blinder all match and had some very good natured banter with our fans. Sign him up!
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| The keeper and the linesman check the goal, for burgers presumably. |
The Pilgrims defence was all at sea on 30 minutes, Sheffield had a man over at the back post and Cullingworth was unable to clear the ball. The defence didn't seem to be able to sort itself out and this enabled Sheffield to take the lead. Nothing that
Adam Aaron (such a good keeper I even forgot his name) Butcher could do about either goal; I do still feel nervous when Butcher is on the receiving end of back passes or crosses and I'd feel much better with a bit more experience between the sticks. Boston tried to get back into proceedings but more fantastic keeping from Walker kept the score at 2-1 to Sheffield at half-time.
Boston made four changes at the start of the second half and it took a little while for these to bed in. Neither side had many chances and not much happened for the majority of the second period. Things did liven up a little bit when Weir-Daley and a surprisingly slim-line Danny Davidson were brought on to replace Suarez and the pacey Hunter. Boston got the equalizer with just over 10 minutes to go.
Davidson headed home, committing a clear foul in the process but the ref missed it and Boston were level.
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| Sheffield defend a corner. |
One bit of luck was quickly followed by another as the plaintive cries of 'no foul' from the defence went unheeded and Anthony Church was chopped down in the box.
Weir-Daley calmly converted the penalty to put Boston in the driving seat. Unfortunately this did pose a technical issue for the staff at the Coach and Horses ground who went about furiously searching for the lost number three to put up on the scoreboard. Weir-Daley nearly made the search unnecessary but couldn't score from a good position as time ran out for the home team and the game finished 3-2 to Boston. The result was probably a little unfair on Sheffield but it's pre-season so who cares?
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| S.W.D. takes the penalty to make it 3-2. |
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| Sheffield F.C. 2 - Boston United... erm... |
So, a new hope for a new season? Maybe. Hunter was excellent up front, sharp and quick. That said I can't see him breaking into the first team starting line-up. With Weir-Daley, Davidson, Suarez, Newsham and Yates all in contention for places in the attack it will be very tough. The new guy at the back, Kieran Murphy, looked very solid and could form a great centre-back pairing with Shaun Pearson. Shane Clancey played the second half but didn't really show anything special, he is only young and his time may yet come for Boston. Other than that the team seem to have picked up much where they left off and there is much optimism amongst the Boston faithful. I'm going to err on the side of caution and stick to my prediction of twelfth for the season.
Next time: Yes, you guessed it, more pre-season friendlies...
