FOOTBALL: Horncastle Town under-12 earn first point of new year

Ruskington Lions U12 1

Bruce Baxter’s side earned their first point of 2016 after a hard fought draw against rivals Ruskington at The Wong.

After losing 6-1 in the corresponding fixture back in September, this was an excellent result for The Wongers.

The match was played in dry weather which was a relief to all involved after the horrendous conditions that the players and spectators had to deal with last week at Caythorpe and Fulbeck.

Horncastle welcomed Aaron Smith back into the defence after a lay-off and his speed and general reading of the game made a significant difference at the back for Town, alongside solid displays by Lewis Holden, Connor Pinkett and Louis Jones.

Ruskington shaded the first half in this close encounter. Horncastle limited the away side to a small number of chances but struggled to create many chances of their own worthy of note.

The visitors took the lead just before the break but Town went into the half time talk knowing that they were still very much in the game if they could start creating chances.

Whatever was said at half time evidently worked as the Red and Whites started on the front foot from the whistle and dominated the match from this point. The pressure finally told when Kyle Tempest’s perfectly weighted through-ball was well received by James Smith who poked past the goalkeeper, with the visiting defenders’ attempts to clear the ball in vain.

Although both teams had chances after the equaliser, it really did feel like Horncastle had the match for the taking and they created an excellent chance with 10 minutes to go when Peter Smith (Horncastle’s answer to Manuel Neuer) found Connor Pinkett down the right with an excellent ball from the back. Pinkett drove forward past his defender and played a great square ball for Tempest, who unluckily clipped the ball just over the crossbar.

This proved to be the last good chance of the match and the game ended up all square.

It was a solid point against a good side and all involved should be very proud of their efforts. Man of the match was awarded to Ellis Roberts for another skilful display in the centre of the park.

Mention should also be made of William Fawcett who certainly made his presence known in midfield and stuck to his task particularly well as requested by the management team.