"Pete Anniss coming closest when his header was saved on the line" |
Dartmouth Reserves 3 Loddiswell Athletic 0 Loddiswell travelled to Dartmouth in this derby match. With Darts under new management; Lodds faced a largely different team from last season’s corresponding fixtures. The first half was evenly contested with Darts looking dangerous in attack whilst Lodds forced the majority of play. Midway through the half Lodds found themselves with a good goalscoring opportunity; however Mark Edmonds’ shot hit the side netting. Within a minute Darts had taken the lead. A quick free kick wasn’t closed down allowing the Darts centre back to hit a long ball over the Lodds defence. A communication error then allowed a Darts centre forward to ghost in un-noticed to open the scoring from close range. The second half continued in the same vein, with Lodds constantly launching attack after attack, however the Darts defence stood up well to the pressure. With the pitch being unbelievably narrow, Lodds failed to drag Darts’ defence out of position and all too often over hit passes or reverted to long balls. With Richie Hammett and Mark Hallett suffering reoccurrences of their recent injuries, they were replaced with half an hour remaining by the returning Chris Smallridge and new signing Luke Bateman. Lodds who have struggled to score goals in recent weeks due to injuries to three strikers, looked to take advantage of their distinct height advantage over Darts. However despite numerous long throws and corners they failed to convert any of these chances, with Pete Anniss coming closest when his header was saved on the line. Darts increased their lead with 20 minutes remaining when they were awarded a dubious penalty, leaving Lodds dismayed. Now having to push forward in numbers, Lodds left gaps and from one counter-attack, Darts young striker scored an excellent goal executing a chip shot from 20 yards, to secure the win. Lodds did create some half chances in the closing stages with Joe Merchant having one effort saved with another clearing the bar, however Lodds know they failed to test the Darts keeper enough and will hope their early season composure in front of goal returns this weekend in a re-arranged match at home to Chudleigh Athletic (kick off 3pm). Man of the match Dan Hurrell. Loddiswell Match Sponsor : Dave Evans, Builder |
