HOW IT HAPPENED

The first half was quite a poor spectacle for the neutral as neither side really got their foot in the game, Stewkley had a couple of half chances but didn't manage to find a goal from them. Deanshanger also had a couple of efforts but nothing threatening, if either team were looking like scoring then it probably was Stewkley but it never really looked like either side would break the deadlock.

The referee had the opportunity to implement the new rule for the upcoming season, despite the suggestions of other players in the club, it was Dan Nevin who was the first to fall for the sin bin rule when he kicked the ball back to their goalkeeper in frustration after being penalised for a handball - he found himself sidelined for the next ten minutes. The rest of the team did well to keep Deanshanger at bay with only ten players on the pitch.

Half-Time: 0-0

The second half was a whole different story, around five minutes after the second half started, Deanshanger took the lead and from here, it never looked like they would give that lead up as Stewkley had a very poor half of football. Instead of focusing on their play, they got too frustrated by their opposition's gamesmanship, which ultimately caused their quality of football to drop to a level that would never see them scoring.

As the half continued, Stewkley kept pushing for an equaliser, which left gaps for Deanshanger to exploit and they had a few more good chances in the second half to double their lead. It was around the half an hour into the second half when the referee did in fact brandish his first card and who else but Dan Nevin went into the book with a late challenge, warranting a yellow card. Stewkley did, however, manage to create a few half chances towards the end of the game and on another day these may have gone in, with the likes of a deflected shot coming back off the bar and the follow up being cleared off the line by their defender putting a little bit of late pressure on the home side. These chances, however, didn't come to anything and the game finished 1-0 to the home team.

Full-Time: 1-0

WHAT'S NEXT?

The final match of pre-season lands this Saturday 17th August as the First Team have an intra-club friendly against the Reserve Team, it will be a 10:15 kick off at home. It is both team's final pre-season match before the season starts next week, so come down and watch!

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