Cardea Hit Six Against A Strong Yaxley Team

The game was in danger of being called off due to the heavy overnight rain but the Bushfield pitch was deemed safe to play on and, despite rain and strong winds in the first half, the pitch was not an issue.

Cardea used their 3rd goalkeeper in 3 weeks as Adam Simons started in between the sticks and began with a 4-3-3 formation with Kynan Bereznyckyj, Tom Broughton and Mike Dandrilli forming the attack. Michael Williams returned to centre back as Aaron Yeoman came back into the midfield.

A strong start was needed to eradicate the bad memories of last weeks defeat to Parkside Reserves but it was anything but a good start as Yaxley right winger, Steven Coles, got to the bye line and floated a cross to the back post and it was headed in by Daniel Walker to give Yaxley a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute.

Minutes later and Cardea had their first chance. A strong run through the middle by Tom Rimes was stopped by the Yaxley goalkeeper who kicked the ball away. But the ball only went as far as Bereznyckyj who had a shot that whistled just wide of the post.

Yaxley then upped their tempo and Cardea were struggling to get out of their half. League top goalscorer Lewis Leckie was looking to add to his 7 goals already this season and most of Yaxley's play was directed through him. A chance was created with 12 minutes gone as a cross from the left evaded everyone and Yaxley winger Coles had a shot at the back post which was well saved by Simons at the expense of a corner.

The corner was whipped into the back post and had to be clawed out by the busy Simons. Cardea did manage to produce a telling attack on 17 minutes as the ball was worked to Aaron Yeoman on the left and his cross into the area looped past the keeper and into the back of the net for a lucky equaliser.

Yaxley responded well to the setback and Juliano Scibelli had to be at his best to clear a shot off the line for a corner after the ball had got past Simons. The corner was again whipped into the back post but it was dealt with by the Cardea defence.

Just before the half hour mark Yaxley attacked again through Leckie who outpaced the Cardea defence and was in the box at a wide angle. Goalkeeper Simon's came rushing out and took the player but didn't get a touch on the ball and a penalty was awarded. Leckie stepped up to take it but smashed it 5 yards wide of the target and the score stayed at 1-1.

Yaxley continued to dominate the half with good possession but their final ball was poor and Cardea were defending well with Tom Rimes coming back to play at left back in place of the injured Michael Moulds. However Cardea did have the ball in the back of the net, Williams picked the ball up in defence and played it onto Dandrilli, Dandrilli passed it to Daryl Patrick and his through ball was latched onto by Broughton who found the back of the net but the offside flag was raised for a close decision.

Half time arrived with the score at 1-1 and the strong wind would be behind Cardea in the second half. George Greetham was subbed on for Mike Dandrilli and he joined his brother Tom on the pitch, who had been subbed on in the first half in place of the injured Moulds.

Cardea worked their way into the second half well with some good possession and confident defending giving them a solid platform to build on. With an hour gone the important 3rd goal was scored and it went to Cardea. Patrick picked the ball up in midfield and drove onto the edge of the area and tapped into Bereznyckyj's path who struck a sweet finish past the keeper into the back of the net.

The Greetham brothers were causing problems for the Yaxley defence by winning headers and closing down possession and a foul on Tom Greetham led to a free kick 25 yards out for Patrick to take. Patrick struck the ball over the wall and the ball squirmed through the keeper's legs and into the back in the net. The goalkeeper will not look back on that effort too fondly!

With 65 minutes gone the ball was again in the back of the net but George Greetham was offside and it didn't stand. However it wasn't long before George got his goal as the ball was passed to him by Yeoman and he lobbed the ball over the stranded goalkeeper from 30 yards with a fantastic effort, the best goal scored by a Cardea player so far this season.

Cardea were now enjoying their football and the defence and goalkeeper continued to work hard to keep the Yaxley attack quiet. It was again on the counter attack when Cardea scored their fifth with a good move. Patrick and Dandrilli exchanged passes and the ball was then moved onto Tom Greetham who clinically finished past the keeper to get the goal his hard working performance had deserved.

Cardea captain Daryl Patrick then discovered how wet the ground had become when he slipped over with nobody around him and ended up in an undignified heap in the middle of the pitch and thumping the ground in frustration!

A sixth goal was added late on when a free kick in the same position to Patrick's earlier effort was taken by Williams and the ball was spilled by the goalkeeper and Dandrilli managed to tap in through the legs of the keeper from 5 yards.

The final whistle was blown and it was a fantastic battling performance by Cardea capped by 6 well taken goals. Cardea had fought through the first half onslaught and produced a memorable second half display to grab the 3 points.

Afterwards manager Kev Webster said: "The performance was better than last week and the battling was outstanding. The return of the players who missed last week showed what a big impact they have on the team and the goals proved that. Overall I'm happy with today but this battling spirit needs to continue throughout the season."

The man of the match decision was tough as there were so many contenders so it was handed over to the players to vote. The winner was Tony Harper, who just beat Tom Rimes in the poll.

Next week see's the return match of Cardea's embarrassing defeat to Parkside Reserves as the two teams go head to head at Bushfield.