On a day when the first team put in a performance resembling the form of Man Utd early season, the Reserve team more closely resembled their performance against Huddlesfield as they went down 3-1 away to Chard.
Cullompton struggled to adjust to the wet windy conditions on the famous Chard slope, and failed to muster much quality or sharpness following an early goal conceded. It was a poor goal to concede for multiple reasons, but it could have been worse in the first half as Chard missed a number of chances. On the few occasions Kieran was on the ball Cullompton looked threatening, but without struggling to create opportunities.
Cullompton struggled to keep possession, moving the ball slowly or not at, often taking the wrong choice and giving the ball away under no pressure. The two penalty appeals told the story of the half – Cullompton’s appeal was ambitious at best while Chards looked like a stonewall appeal – fortunately the referee give neither.
Another goal followed after half an hour, and Cullompton were happy to go in just two goals down at the interval.
With the slope in Cullompton’s favour the second half was slightly different, and for the first twenty minutes Mark and Kieran were putting on some sustained pressure down the left hand side, so it was no surprise when they won a free kick in a dangerous position. Liam stepped up to hit a vicious in swinging ball which the lunging keeper and desperate defender failed to keep out. Possibly an unstoppable shot, or maybe an own goal – we’ll leave that to Liam’s conscious.
As the game went on Culompton struggle to create many really good opportunities, and when Chard scored on the break it couldn’t be argued that it wasn’t deserved. An earlier excellent free kick had been superbly tipped around the post by Aaron, and they had remained dangerous from set pieces generally.
A poor result with a matching performance was certainly disappointing after the promise of the week before. Next week may well bring a similar challenge away in the cup, and a better performance will be essential.
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