A brilliant brace from Lorian Madanes steered Faithfold A to a big win over Scrabble, but losing boss Ray Abrahams insists there were a number of positives for his team to take away from the game.
November 12, 2018 13:42
PETER MORRISON TROPHY ROUND ONE
SCRABBLE FC A 1 FAITHFOLD DOC MM A 7
Ultimately, it was Faithfold's superior finishing that proved decisive, with player-manager Avi Markiewicz, David Kizneris and Eli Davila were also among the scorers.
Scrabble's consolation came via Oli Richardson. Boss Ray Abrahams remained upbeat, and told JC Sport: "We came into this game with some big defeats against us in the past few weeks and, of course, with Faithfold A a level higher in the Premier Division and near the top.
"Although the score doesn’t suggest it, this was by far our best performance of the season and I’m so proud of my squad for the way we took the game to a top side and gave them some difficult moments in the game."
Abrahams has had to deal with a crippling injury list and availability problems so far this season, but he was delighted with the level of performance from his players.
"We went toe to toe and took the game to Faithfold, and to be frank we enjoyed a good deal of the possession throughout the 90 minutes.
"Faithfold went ahead with an unfortunate own goal and built on it but we defended very well,created a lot in midfield and created so many chances.
"The only difference between the sides was the clinical finishing of a Premier Division side as opposed to us, but our front men really played well and on another day may have scored four or five goals with a bit better luck."
Abrahams went on to say: "We are in the process of rebuilding for next season but the experienced boys in the side rolled back the years with some superb displays.
"If we play like that for the rest of the season and we get our four or five long term injured players back then we can certainly get ourselves out of trouble with a few wins.
"A word for the guys who rolled back the years today superbly...Nigel Goldthorpe, Andy Miller,Serge Cowan, Alex Bourne and Jeremy King, and the younger guys like Oli Richardson and Barnaby Powell who were outstanding against a top side.
"To be honest although we are now out of the Peter Morrison Cup today’s game gave us the chance of a break from the league and the boys all played with a smile on their face for the first time in a while.”
Faithfold player-manager Avi Markiewicz told JC Sport: "We left a lot of the regulars at home and gave an opportunity to those who haven't had much time, and they stepped up well.
"It was a difficult pitch to play on and things got more difficult when David Lewiy went off injured on 20 minutes. Having already lost Doron Shooter to injury, we were out of subs and had to play the rest of the game with 20 minutes.
"In the end it was a comfortable day at the office for Faithfold without being pushed too hard."