Match Report: 1st Team 3-3 St Francis (Sat 21st Nov)
Forest United drew 3-3 at home with St Francis on Saturday.
The game started off with some neat play from both sides. Neither produced much. After about 20 minutes the frustration in the fact the home side were not producing enough caused a surge of pressure from the front men. Aiden thomas disposed the St Francis right back and broke onto the goal side of their back four, before composing himself and naturally putting the ball passed their flailing goal keeper. The match carried on with Forest producing some creative play down the right wing, with Michael Konis and Ryan Munn combining well. Konis broke foward & produced a snap crossfield ball from just inside the halfway mark picking out Micha Gentle who casually outsmarted the St Francis left back and lifted the ball over their keeper's head. Once again Forest had found themselves 2-0 up before half an hour of the match had been played. Could they sustain it? St Francis quickly tried to press the Forest defence with some quick feet from their right winger but looked like they were not going to get back into the game. Until their left winger picked up the ball just outside the Forest 18 yard box and let rip with an impossible shot to save. With the shot coming out of a mass of players, Daniel Kent in the Forest goal didn't see it until late and the ball flew into the top left hand corner. With the score at 2-1 Forest found themselves frustrated despite displaying a good account of themselves in the first half. This was compounded when once again the ball was picked up by St Francis on the edge of the Forest 18 yard box and their captain dispatch a shot that beat Kent. Forest went in at half time pegged back to 2-2.
The second half started with Ryan Thompson-Cobham coming on for Gentle and Chris Mitchell coming off for Bradley Hodges. Forest press straight off, pushing the ball into the St Francis half of the pitch and were rewarded when Micheal Powell was brought down inside theSt Francis goal area and Forest were awarded a penalty. Thomas converted to give Forest a 3-2 lead & scored his second of the game. The question was no, could Forest hold on? St Francis pressed on but looked like they could not produce that bit off magic. Poor crosses and wayward attempts on goal only frustrated and annoyed each of the St Francis midfield until their centre midfielder dispatched a scuffed curling effort from outside the box which curled straight into keeper Kent's arms. Or so it seemed. The height of the shot, unluckily misjudged by the keeper slipped through his arms & into the goal to give St Francis the equaliser & level the scores at 3-3. In an attempt to add some attacking pressure and fresh legs Christian Pinnock replaced Ryan Munn. The last 15 minutes of the second half passed with plenty of battling in the centre of the midfield giving Forest a number of chances to snatch the win. However none were converted. The match ended with Thomas coming close with a strike from outside of the box flying straight into the St Francis keeper's arms. Forest drew 3-3, after being 2-0 up for the fourth time this season.
Next weekend Forest take on current premier division leaders Castle United, who are unbeaten in the league for the second time this season, away.