EXCITING GAME ENDS IN DRAW

Cumnor and Radley met for the second time this season and produced a thrilling encounter. Rain over the weekend put the fixture at risk but Dave's early pitch inspection gave the go ahead. Cumnor had Biggy making his first outing of the season. Dave, as usual, spent the couple of days before the game working out tactics.
Cumnor started well. They were stopping any serious Radley attacks. At the other end, Biggy and Bradley were getting used to each others style of play. Fraser, who had dragged himself out of his sickbed, was commanding the midfield well. Luke was making some fantastic runs. The first opportunity came to Harri. A Shaun cross ball was cleared. It fell to Harri 25 yards from the goal. He steadied himself. The Cumnor crowd were shouting for Harri to shoot. Surely he was too far out. He thundered the ball towards goal. It was heading for the top corner but the Radley goalie made a great save. The next chance involved another great save as the Radley goalie made a point blank save from Fraser.
Ben started another great move but Biggy shot just wide.
At the other end, our defense was looking very safe. Freddie, Henry, Shaun and Kieran were rarely looking troubled. When the ball did get over the Cumnor defence, Robbie was quick of his line to make some crucial clearances.
The first half finished 0-0.
In the second half, Tim had to make an early save. Unfortunately he injured himself in the process. Robbie had to replace him.
Biggy was finding his way past the Radley defence. He was making some good runs. It was surely only a matter of time before, Cumnor scored. Luke made a great tackle in midfield. The ball was released to Biggy who raced past the last defender and slipped the ball into the net. It was 1-0. Almost immediatly it was 2-0. A long ball yet again beat the defence and Biggy was first to the ball and fired the ball into the net. It was 2-0.
With less than 15 minutes to go the game was surely won. Unfortunately for Cumnor, Radley had other ideas. Radley came back superbly. Within a couple of minutes, it was 2-2. A well worked move opened up the Cumnor defence and the Radley attacker showed alot of composure to slip the ball past Robbie. It was 2-1. It was soon 2-2 with a lob over Robbie. Cumnor were stunned and Radley were ecstatic.
Suddenly it was a different game. Dave brought on Nathan to add some fresh legs to the attack. Radley were attacking. A great interception from Mark pushed the ball out for a corner. The corner was floated in. Robbie made the initial save but it was heading towards the Cumnor goal. He then made a valiant attempt to keep the ball out. It landed a couple of yards from the goal line. As the Radley attacker was about to pounce, Robbie did the only thing left to him. He swung his foot at the ball and cleared it to the edge of the box. Kieran and Freddie managed to fire the ball upfield. A last attack from Cumnor saw luke go inches wide after the goalie had saved the shot.
The final whistle went. It was 2-2.

CUMNOR MINORS 2 RADLEY 2

MAN OF THE MATCH: FREDDIE


A great match. Cumnor had the better of the game but Radley finished stronger. Both sides played fantastic football and neither side deserved to lose. Ardington are our visitors on Sunday. Hopefully another exciting game.

CUMNOR MAKE NEXT ROUND OF CUP WITH IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY.

Newport Pagnell were our opponents on a sunny cold day. Against all odds, everybody arrived on time. Cumnor suffered an early scare as Ben was ill overnight. Fortunately a late fitness test allowed him to travel.
A long journey did not dampen Cumnor's enthusiasm. Cumnor came out the blocks quicker than Newport. Cumnor were attacking on both flanks and an early goal seemed imminent. In fact, Fraser did pop the ball into the net but it was offside. Bradley shot wide after a good move from Harri and Mark. Luke released Freddie but he shot at the goalie. Ben and Fraser linked up well to give Luke an opportunity but the goalie saved well. The Newport goalie made some great catches as, with the sun shining in his eyes, it was not easy. Cumnor had great opportunities to score but they were not finding the back of the net.
With minutes to go, Bradley fired in a great shot from 20 yards to open the scoring. This settled Dave's nerves as he was starting to look worried.
The half time whistle was blown.
Newport had not caused Cumnor any problems in the first half. A half time team talk produced a different Newport in the second half.
Newport started to use both wings to attack Cumnor. Especially on our left, they had a quick winger. Nathan and Mark were finding they had to both watch this tricky player. After a quiet first half, suddenly it was a real cup tie. Henry and Kieran had to cover at the back. Newport were looking dangerous. Alex was having a great tussle on the right hand side. He made a couple of important blocks. Robbie had to make a great block with his leg to stop an equaliser.
Cumnor broke out from the back with a clearance from Kieran. Freddie controlled and slipped the ball through to Bradley. Bradley raced in on goal and slipped the ball into the net. It was 2-0. A great goal.
Newport did not give up and Robbie had to make a great one handed save and caught the ball as it came back down.
Cumnor then hit Newport on the break. It was a corner on the left. Harri fired in a great corner. It was half cleared and Nathan pounced on the ball to force it into the net. It was 3-0.
Then Alex won the ball at the back. He gave it to Fraser. He found Bradley. Bradley raced in on goal and slipped a great ball to Freddie. Freddie approached the goalie and put the ball in the corner of the net. It was 4-0.
The game was surely over and Cumnor were progressing to the next round of the cup.


NEWPORT PAGNELL 0 CUMNOR MINORS 4

MAN OF THE MATCH: HENRY.

Next week we have Radley. Then league is wide open so it is a game we must win.