Good Start Continues

Southbank 1^st team followed on from the impressive victory over Black Boy with a good 3 nil victory over newly promoted side Riverside at Coley Park. Despite reportedly missing a number of players Riverside were clearly not here to just make up the numbers and were going to provide Southbank with a tough game.

Despite playing on a pitch not suitable for football due to a massive loss of grass which had been replaced with dirt in the centre circle The Bank set about trying to play football against their visitors but found it tough going under the hot late summer conditions and a Riverside defence content to press up the pitch and compress the play. Little opportunities presented themselves during the first half, with both sides having just the one chance to score during an otherwise uneventful half. Firstly Benji, continuing from his good performance against Black boy looked to have opened his account when he turned a cross onto Riverside’s bar which was cleared to safety. Riverside’s best opportunity came from a corner which was won by a Riverside player and required Shaz defending the back post to clear from under his crossbar.

The second half saw a much improved performance from Southbank as they realised the game was there for the taking and set about the opposition from the very start to push the opposition defence further and further back towards their own goal. With Southbank defence holding strong against the Riverside attackers, this allowed the midfield, excellently controlled by Ricky Gale to bomb forward down each flank and create chances. The writing was on the wall for the Riverside when Woodrow burst clear of the defence and lifted the ball over the on rushing goalkeeper, only to see if roll down the wrong side of the net for a goal-kick. However, it wasn’t long before he got his rewards, when a cross from the right by Tully enabled Woodrow to somehow out-jump the goalkeeper and head into an empty net to give The Bank a deserved lead.

From here there was only going to be one winner and the team realised this as they continued to press with Bryce and Wayne Tully who was making his first start of the season after being unluckily relegated to the subs bench the week before giving the full-backs a torrid time on their respective sides. With 60 odd minutes played a superb cross by the impressive Mig enabled Jason to double the Bank’s lead with a header to give the team breathing space.

With the heat rising, a small flash point saw Shaz replaced with Ricky Haimes following a ‘dodgy’ tackle from behind which rightly resulted in a booking and Shaz needing to be replaced. However, this provided The Bank with more attacking options down the right and it wasn’t long before Jason doubled his tally for the game, driving home from 18 yards out to seal an impressive home debut and seal the game for the bank.

So The Bank were able to reflect on 6 points from their first two games giving them something to work with and optimism going into the season ahead. A new manager and a new team could satisfactorily say they had overcome another hurdle and look forward to the autumn games with some enthusiasm.

Team: Howroyd, Gull (Haimes), Frade, Price, Bradbury, Tully, Gale, Wagner, Bellman (Kemp), Williams, Woodrow