After a couple of disappointing results, me traveled to table-topping East Grinstead with hope and optimism that we could achieve a result in what we knew would be a tough game.
The game started brightly, with both teams playing good football with a lot of strong challenges going in (one of these resulting in an injury to Jack Pearson after a brave header).
Much of the first half was played like this without either side creating a clear cut oppotunity. With the score 0-0 at half time we were very pleased and sure that we could get something from the game.
The breakthrough came mid-way into the second half when Dan McCaffery superbly dummied George Webber's through ball to set Leo Anderson racing clear who then finished clinically.
We felt we very much deserved this goal, with Joe Rodemark and Adam Creasey battling hard in midfield, solid defending from the back four and Leo and Dan causing problems upfront.
We could have doubled our lead when another great through ball sent Leo racing clear but this time his shot went inches over the bar.
This seemed to spark Grinstead into life and only some good defending and some great keeping from Mick Barnes kept the score at 0-1.
However after a period of sustained pressure, a good cross resulted in an unfortunate own goal to bring the score to 1-1 with 5 mins to go.
This last 5 mins resulted in more Grinstead pressure and from another cross they rattled the crossbar with a good header. Despite this, the game finished 1-1, a result we thoroughly deserved.
This was a great performance from the whole team, with our team spirit being epitimised by Michael Neale who played despite being ill all week with a virus.
An encouraging result against a table topping side has only boosted our confidence and we look foward to our next game.
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