By Dan Mees
On Friday, Cliftonville secured their fourth win in the Folkestone mixed tournament, overcoming a determined Canterbury Greens side.
The match marked the tournament debut of Isaac “Zidane” Dilkes, who joined forces with Dan Vinson and Kat O’Hara in the midfield. Attacking reinforcements also arrived in the form of new signing Jule Gossems, joining Tinashe Muchemwa and Jen Chapman as part of the front three.
Although a tentative start for both teams, things quickly heated up. Centre back Dan Mees (who has been quoted saying he would run through brick walls for Cliftonville) met his match, as he ran headfirst into the fence causing him to be taken off.A goalless game so far but firmly, Fence 1 – Mees 0.
Soon after the ball found itself in the Canterbury D, with Jule and Aaron Walker working the ball into the goal; however, it was ruled out due to a foot infringement. Cliftonville’s attacking efforts would soon be rewarded after Vinson opened up the scoring with a sublime reverse stick strike, past the goal keepers stick side and into the top corner. Throughout the rest of the half Cliftonville was able to stave off all of Canterbury’s efforts, including multiple short corner attempts. The half finished 1-0 to Cliftonville.
Canterbury came out fighting in the second half, but resolute defending and crucial saves from goalkeeper Jamie Ullyett kept them at bay. This defensive effort was to be rewarded with a goal from Jen whose original shot was saved but managed to sneak in the rebound. 2-0 to Ville. Although Canterbury’s frustration was growing, so was the pressure around the Cliftonville D to which they finally broke through from a quickly taken long corner but time was running out. Tinashe was able to give Ville players momentary relief by skilfully putting the ball on a Canterbury player’s feet, forcing them back and ultimately giving his team mates time to breathe.
This led to an opportunity for Isaac to finish off the game with a hard low shot from the right side of Canterbury D, but narrowly missed wide. Ultimately, Ville held on, winning 2-1 through a determined team effort.
Our next match is against Maidstone Iguanodons on Friday 9th August at 7pm.
Squad:
(Back Row, L-R) Tinashe Muchemwa, Charlie Morgan, Isaac Dilkes, Dan Mees, Jamie Ullyett, Jen Chapman, Dan Vinson, Aron Walker, Anna Elliott
(Front Row, L-R) Jule Gossens, Lena Sabin-Dawson, Kat O’Hara
(Seated Front) Izzie Grogan
