JC MSFL DIVISION TWO
NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B 1 SPEC FC 2
Strikes from Elliott Wallis and Dan Amram helped SPEC FC complete back-to-back wins as they recorded a hard-fought victory at Brunel.
The impending storm in Uxbridge served only to whet the fans' appetite prior to familiar foes SPEC and Raiders kicking off in what was already being dubbed as an early season “six-pointer”.
SPEC started the brighter, setting up base deep inside Raiders half and eventually made their early pressure count when Burns played an inviting ball across the six-yard box which Top Banana Elliott Wallis peeled away to tap home.
Bruiser brothers Burns and Wallis both had chances to double the lead, though it was The Mosquito, Amram, who put the Bananas two up. Rosenthal spread the ball to Wallis who turned on a sixpence before feeding the in-form Amram. When he was one-on-one with the keeper, there was only going to be one outcome as the Mosquito finished confidently to get the Bananas off to a flyer. His third goal in as many games showed why the board broke the bank to sign him… there was never any doubt that he was always going to (ano)rak them up.
With chances coming thick and fast, half time couldn’t come (mon)soon enough for the Raiders boys.
Whatever missing manager Oli Shorts said to his Raiders side at the break via face-time must have worked as they came out with a renewed vigour. After SPEC had another Wallis goal harshly ruled out for a borderline offside, Raiders did manage to worm their way back into the game when Simon Buchler finished from close-range.
Raiders proceeded to flood forward for the remainder of the game, though SPEC held on relatively untroubled - without a clear chance on the dominant Mirrelman's goal to complete back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
The final 15 minutes saw Marc Hecht and Ricky Lawrence win a number of duels in the centre of the park, whilst the defence cleared anything that came their way.
Nick Wallis, Berman, Lesner and the silky Rob Murray soaked up the pressure, whilst Rosenthal, despite playing with a mild concussion, made sure the only headache would be gaffer Laurence Conway's squad selection next week with several players chomping at the bit for a place in the side.
On a wet and windy morning and at the end of a very fruit encounter, it was SPEC’s Bananas who rained supreme over Raiders Oranges.
SPEC Director of Football Paul Lesner posted on Facebook: “Great win! and a well earnt 3 points bananas, yes you had to dig it out in the 2nd half and some of it wasn't pretty but some of the stuff you played today was very pretty indeed. #impressed”
Assistant-manager Rich Abrahams told JC Sport: "This was another frustrating game to add to this season's growing list! After shipping five goals in both of our games so far this season, we looked to tighten things up in defence a little bit with some changes in tactics.
"To be fair to SPEC, they dominated the first half and we were lucky to go into half time only 2-0 down; however, I was delighted with the second half performance from every single one of our players.
"The attitude and spirit they showed for those 45 minutes was fantastic and I think we can count ourselves unlucky that we didnt come away with a point.
"The conditions were awful and I think both teams can be happy with the way we tried to pass the ball about. Hopefully we can push on and take our second half performance into the rest of the season."
