We knew today's game was going to be a tough one and that Pentre were a very physical team, it's a pity that the man in the middle didn't voice his authority in the match from the start but.... hey...?!
After a number of crunching tackles and flying studs Joe Jones was taken down in the opponents area, up stepped Naylor to bury the penalty and give us a 1-0 lead.
Our lead was a very short one because due to complacency and errors at the back and no more than a minute after the pen, Pentre equalised! ( How many times do you see that happen in football?)
We almost took the lead again on 15mins after some lovely footwork from Naylor in the corner, he went round 2 players, skinned a 3rd and played the ball back out to George who played a superb cross into the box but was unfortunately just a touch too high for a frustrated Tom.
We were playing the better football, we were passing the ball around nicely and we always looked favourites to get a 2nd. It wasn't long arriving, after some quality passing through Conor and Tom in the midfield, the ball was played through to Naylor who fed Daniel who blasted the ball only to see it come back to him, his second effort gave the keeper no chance! 2-1 Junction.
Just like after the 1st goal lead we allowed Pentre immediately back in for their 2nd through poor marking and ball watching ....2-2.
Both teams had a couple of efforts before the half time whistle but neither side looked like threatening.
The second half was very scrappy compared to the first and we didn't seem to be the same team that played in the first!? Pentre were winning everything especially in the air, ok not always fairly! We started seeing our players go down with knocks and kicks and the studs were again flying!
Then on about 30 mins Pentre took the lead to make it 2-3 and soon after our heads were
down.
.............But we're the Junction and we battle and continue to play until the final whistle.....and so we did, Nicky G was like a rampaging bull in the back and was playing through everyone, Jamie was solid and threw himself at everything and with Tref (who was filling in in goal and doing a good job too ) dictating and motivating the players, the team responded.
The last 5 minutes saw Junction hit the crossbar, shoot wide twice and strike the ball just over the goal with 3 efforts! The referee called ' 1 minute' and we continued to pile on the pressure, then after some excellent trickery from Joe to beat two players just outside their own area, he squared the ball to Naylor who played it back out to Tom who met it perfectely with a sweet right foot! 3-3!
Pleased with the result, thought we were the better team in the 1st half and thought Pentre were stronger and quicker to the ball in the second. We dug deep in the last few minutes to pull it back to a draw and that's what sport and especially football is all about ...Pride, Passion,Belief!