Young Offenders’ three game winning streak in the Haggerston Saturday League came to end in a disappointing 8-5 loss at home to top of the table Calciocavallo.
Sloppy Start
Young Offenders were caught sleeping in the opening minutes of the game and this was capitalised on by the visitors, Ali Matthews scoring two finely taken goals to put his side 2-0 up.
Not long after this Young Offenders found themselves 3-0 down when the opposition striker found the back of the net past Henry Thurman in goal. This goal emphasised how Calciocavallo caught Young Offenders off guard at the start of the game.
Harry Johnson pulled a goal back for his side when his left-footed effort found the bottom right of the goal to net his 24th of the season.
Refereeing Controversy
Around five minutes later, there was a bizarre decision by the referee. It was a Young Offenders goal kick and Henry Thurman tried to take it quickly, unfortunately his kick hit the back of Charlie McCarty’s leg and went into his own net. The referee decided that it was not a goal, a decision which both teams agreed with, and the game carried on from a goal kick. However, a few minutes afterwards the referee informed both teams that he was reversing his decision and was counting the goal. The Young Offenders were appalled by this decision but nevertheless they now found themselves 4-1 down.
Frantic End To The Half
Towards the end of the first half Lewi Robinson scored a second goal for the Young Offenders to give his side some hope of getting back into the game. However, they were not able to keep Calciocavallo out at the end of the half and conceded another goal when Ali Matthews completed his hat trick. The Young Offenders went into the break 5-2 down and needed to be much better in the second half.
Response After The Break
The hosts started the second half much better than the first and scored two quick goals to make the score 5-4. The first goal came when Lewi Robinson volleyed home a Fergus O’Sullivan cross from short range. In contrast, the next goal was as a result of a corner which Dylan Bragg got onto the end of to score his sixth of the season.
All Out Attack
With the Young Offenders now only one goal behind they decided to try and go for the game, but this left them exposed at the back and they conceded from a pass over the top of their defence from Calciocavallo’s centre back to the winger who slotted his effort into the right of goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Harry Johnson got the score back within one again when he scored a free kick to the right of the keeper for his 25th of the season. Johnson and his strike partner Lewi Robinson now have 40 goals between them this season.
Calciocavallo secured the victory in the final 10 minutes of the game when their midfielder Chris Davis latched onto two short clearances from keeper Henry Thurman to make the score 8-5 and take the game away from the Young Offenders.
This loss means that the Young Offenders move down to second in the table, three points behind Calciocavallo who they play again in the final game of the season in what could be a title-deciding game.
Edited by Gregg Baxter
