10 MAN CARDEA PRODUCE EPIC LAST MINUTE WINNER

Cardea FC (4-2-3-1): Fin Britton; Max Woods, John Reddell, Dave Kilby, Jamie Cogings; Mark Rayment, Kyle Ginns; Rob Ames, Daryl Patrick, Jae Mead; Ryley Nicholson-Barfoot.
Subs: Ethan Jones, Dylan Martin, Colbey Ring, Dan Tarver

With just 5 minutes on the clock the Chatteris striker looked to run onto a long ball and Kilby attempted to stop him and brought him down. The referee produced the red card as the defender was the last man.

From the resulting free kick the Chatteris player struck a great effort into the corner to give the hosts the lead.

Cardea made a change with centre back Dylan Martin coming on and adjusted to a 4-3-2 formation.

Despite Chatteris having the majority of the ball Cardea were causing problems on the counter and in the 20th minute equalised. Martin played a ball over the top of the Chatteris defence for Jae Mead to convert past the oncoming keeper.

Both sides had chances to take the lead before half time, with the home side having the better opportunities, but Cardea managed to keep the score to 1-1 at half time.

HT: Chatteris Town 1-1 Cardea FC

Into the second half and it was truly a “backs against the wall” defensive effort for Cardea with the whole team doing their defensive duties superbly.

The home side were restricted to shots outside the box and most of these cleared the bar.

Britton in the Cardea goal produced good handling and shot stopping and when he was beaten from a corner Cogings popped up on the line to head away.

As Cardea began to tire Chatteris were in complete control of the game but just couldn’t break down the strong defensive formation.

But in the 93rd minute, against the run of play, a Martin clearance was collected by Ryley Nicholson-Barfoot on half way who sprinted clear of the high Chatteris defensive line, rounded the keeper and cooly slotted into the net and went to celebrate with the Chatteris branch of his fan club.

FT: Chatteris Town 1-2 Cardea FC

A truly remarkable game for which much of the credit must go to the Cardea defence, sub Dylan Martin ended up man of the match.

The result sees Cardea top the league by 4 points at this early stage.

Next up for Cardea is another tough away fixture against Peterborough City at Yaxley FC this Saturday.