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Crescent 2nd 2- 3 Up & Under |
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This promised to be a very interesting match for a place in the semi-finals of the East Devon Geary Cup, but turned out to be a very scrappy match on a poor playing surface. With the absence of the two top scorers, Rob Southgate through injury and Paul Hutchings through work, UAU did exceptionally well to come out of the game with a victory which, on the balance of play, they probably deserved. The first half seemed to be one way traffic as UAU raced into a 2-0 lead and restricting Crescent to Long throws and a charged down back pass to cause minor uncertainties in the UAU box. Richard Clarke opened the scoring for UAU with a splendid lob which flew in off an upright. The second followed soon after as a shot from Stuart Cook bounced awkwardly for the home goalkeeper and fell kindly for Ian Platfoot to tuck home. A stranded goalkeeper could only watch and count his blessings as a Stuart Cook lob was denied by the inside of the post just before half-time.
Crescent started the second half the stronger of the two sides and applied constant forward pressure. Crescent forced a corner which was scrambled clear by Richard Clarke only to an oncoming Crescent player, who's shot deflected off Stuart Ruffle and nestled in the back of his own net via an unfortunate Rory Meakes. Stuart Cook then won himself a penalty after retrieving a lost ball; he dusted himself off and slotted home the penalty to restore UAU's two goal advantage. Crescent still looked dangerous however, and from a long throw Andrew Livingstone brilliantly headed off the line to keep the two goal lead in tacked. A bouncing ball in the UAU area fell to Crescent's Left full back who hammered it into the roof of the net to bring the score to 3-2. UAU managed to hold on for the remaining twenty minutes or so and were unlucky not to make it 4-2 when Ian Platfoot's curled effort cannoned off a post.
A good performance from the under-strength UAU will hopefully set up a better spectacle for the semi-final.
STAR MAN: Andrew Livingstone
