Tonbridge Invicta Under 16's v Old Coulsdon Colts

WE HIT FIVE

TONBRIDGE INVICTA 5 OLD COULSDON COLTS 0

08.12.02

On a cold, damp, dismal morning at Swanmead in Tonbridge these two sides battled out a 2nd Round Shield game on a sticky pitch.

The visitors started brightly and exerted some pressure on the home defence in the opening moments. It wasn't long, however, before Invicta began to have influence of their own and the game continued to ebb and flow throughout the first half. On 20 minutes though, Tonbridge got their noses in front. A neat bit of work by skipper Andrew Roberts found space in midfield and he slipped a lovely through ball to Andrew Jarrett. He took the ball in his stride and then unleashed a rasping shot into the bottom right hand corner of the Coulsdon net. The score remained 1-0 until half time, reflecting the close contest.

Again Old Coulsdon were the more determined at the start of the second period. They worked very hard to create openings but could not quite deliver the finishing touch to any of their moves. As time went on Invicta became stronger and a second goal basically sealed the game for them on the hour mark. The Colts keeper, who had an excellent match otherwise, could not hold on to a shot and Man Of The Match Matt Styles was on hand to drill the ball home.

Suddenly Tonbridge stamped their authority on the game and added three more in the closing stages, as the visitors flagged. The passing and movement from the Invicta side, which was very much a feature of their early season form, now came together. Daniel Powell got on the end of some incisive team work to grab both the third and the final goal, giving him 19 goals in 11 matches this season, while the fourth goal was courtesy of a Colts defender after an Andrew Jarrett header hit the post from a corner.

In the end the Kent side looked comfortable and now proceed to the third round of this competition. Old Coulsdon had pushed them close at times, however, and deserved much credit for a battling display.