FC Elmstead – Guest Match Report – from The Scoop!
NEW ERA FOR FC ELMSTEAD !!!!
So the new season has arrived in the middle of the hottest summer ever ( good luck with that all you players ). For FC Elmstead this was also the start of a new chapter in the history of the club, as the club are no longer tenants of Holmesdale FC but have moved to their new surroundings in Hextable and sharing with Sutton Athletic at the impressive London Hire Ground. As a club we would like to thank Holmesdale FC and Sutton Athletic for their hospitality. The hard work of pre season has gone and match day has arrived and Elmstead welcomed Stansfield FC to their new home. Manager Marc Bentz lost both his aids namely Rob Curtis and Ricky Tompkins but has bought in Dave smudger Smith as 1st team coach. Also as usual players have left and new ones have arrived so with all the changes within the club along with difficult opposition this was never going to be an easy opening game. The game kicked off and within 2 minutes Elmsteads task was made harder when Stansfeld took the lead with an absolutely wonderful strike by Joe Minter ( contender for goal of the season already ) volley from outside the box top corner WOW moment. Things went from bad to worse for Elmstead when the same player doubled Stansfields lead 20 minutes later. This wasn’t in the script for the Elmstead faithful and in truth the team was not putting in the best of performances was this down to all the changes within the club? I think more to do with the performance of the opposition who seemed to be hungrier and quicker all over the park and where obviously lifted by such an early goal. The half finished 2-0 to Stansfeld and Bentz and his team had much to ponder during the break. The second half got underway and Elmstead began like a different team dominating the ball and driving Stansfeld back and you felt if Elmstead could get a goal back it would be game on. When Elmstead where awarded a free kick half way through the second half on the edge of the box up stepped the returning Nick Wybrow to slot the ball home. GAME ON . Elmstead now where in complete control of the game but couldn’t create any real opportunities and Stansfeld looked dangerous on the break knocking the ball long to their big number 9 who is a strong lad and holds the ball up very well. Final whistle and Stansfeld held on to take all three points and get their season off to a flyer. For Elmstead though disappointment on their new era but the management can take heart from the second half performance and all the new players put in a decent shift in particular the new centre forward Callum Naessens who was excellent throughout and deservedly gets man of the match from his manager Marc Bentz well done Callum. Finally well done to club captain Christian Howell Marcus Howell and Dan Carpenter who all passed the 100 game mark well done boys.
This is Joe The Scoop signing off and feeling optimistic !!!
Elmstead team: Alex Hyde Ben Lockett Marcus Howell Lindsey Prescott-Kerr (Macca) Jaime Blundell Nick Wybrow Christian Howell Dexter Babalola Dan Carpenter Callum Naessens Danny Patterson Subs Larry Mcardle Charlie Smith Kamal Charles -Reid Dujon Desaguarante Courtney Bryan Isaacs and Robert Hicks