High fives all round for Faithfold B

Faithfold B consolidated second position with an ultimately comfortable victory over Norstar B at the Ark Academy in Wembley.

Led by A-team manager Zuriel Solomon for the day, goals from man of the match Dan Stock (2), Richard Winton and Matt Kleinman (2) saw them home.

The Superhoops stormed into a 3-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes. They went on to score twice more against a Norstar team led by A-team boss Phil Peters for the day.

The B's battled hard against a strong Faithfold team and recovered well after finding themselves 3-0 down inside 10-minutes.

With manager Jonny Bunt missing, the dynamic duo of Peters and Jamie Slavin were in town and swiftly set about trying to change the direction of the match and were helped by Adam Seres who scored the first goal of the game after Faithfold failed to deal with a deep free-kick.

But stand-in keeper Jonny Evans was beaten by a fine shot and the three-goal lead was restored on the 20 minute mark.

Norstar switched to a 4-4-2 and began to look far more comfortable on the ball, with the wingers providing the cover the full-backs were missing earlier in the game. Jono Gaon looked lively up front and forced the keeper into a fine save with a rasping effort.

Seres then scored his second from the resulting corner and a fine ball by Nick Benson however the debate over goal-line technology will surely be reignited with neither team believing the ball had crossed the line. As Norstar appealed for a goal-line handball, the referee borrowed the 'penalty-try' rule from the RFA and awarded the goal.

The second half started slowly with the next goal likely to prove crucial and in the end Faithfold grabbed it - Kleinman heading in from a corner.

But Norstar weren't finished and were determined to battle until the last. Peters and Isaacs replaced the injured Benari and Nick Benson and immediately looked threatening as the home side pushed for a goal that would get them back into the match.

A tremendous effort from Jonathan Kay - striking home from 25 yards out - gave the home supporters something to cheer about but in the end the result was probably a fair one.

Solomon told JC Sport: "We were very comfortable but let in some sloppy goals but we had too much for them."

Peters and Slavin were unavailable for comment after the game but it's thought that they were pleased with the way the team fought back after the initial shock of going 3-0 down.

It is thought they saw enough to be confident in the side's survival in the second division and are sure Jonny and Lloyd will return to make certain they do the business.