Walsall Phoenix 3 Stone Dominoes 3
Staffs County League Division One
Saturday 5th December 2015
A late Nick Glover goal earned Stone Dominoes a point away from home which keeps Dom Ryder and Kyle Adams’ side in third place just behind their opponents.
Ash Cooper had put Dominoes ahead late in the first half but Kyle Barrington levelled for the home side in added time just before the break. Cooper struck again midway through the second period before another Barrington equaliser, and the hosts thought they had won it late on through Tom Revitt, but Glover’s first goal for the club in the last minute of normal time saw the points shared.
[box type=”shadow” ]Joint manager Kyle Adams had mixed feelings regarding the result. He said: “I think it shows the confidence in the camp at the minute in the fact that we feel we should’ve perhaps taken all three points looking at how we performed on the whole.
“On the other hand, you can’t concede three goals in that manner and expect to win, and we can’t be too disappointed with a point away from home against a good, organised side.”[/box]
Dominoes enjoyed the majority of possession in the first period and nearly scrambled the ball home in the six yard box after 20 minutes when Walsall failed to clear a corner sufficiently. Cooper was close to turning in a ball across the box from debutant Sam Arnold, before he did break the deadlock with a header from six yards out after some good work and a pinpoint delivery from Shane Lindop on the left.
The away side were unable to hold their lead until the break however, as a cross from the left was not dealt with by the Dominoes defence and Kyle Barrington met the ball on the bounce to nod Walsall level in stoppage time.
The home side started the second half the brighter and nearly went ahead from a free kick from the edge of the box which flew just wide of Craig Bould’s post. As the visitors began to gain more of a foothold again in the game Arnold and Lee Foyle both went close with acrobatic attempts inside the Walsall area.
Cooper doubled his tally for the afternoon when he latched on to a loose ball 25 yards out and struck a tremendous half volley with his left foot into the corner to make it 2-1. It was another aerial ball that led to the equaliser for the second time in the game for the home side, as a long throw caused confusion in the visitors’ defence and Barrington scrambled in his second of the game to level proceedings once again.
Just as it seemed both sides may have to settle for a point, Dominoes failed to deal with another long throw in the 86th minute from the hosts and Tom Revitt was there to turn the ball in and put Walsall into the lead for the first time in the game.
Not for the first time this season, the away side displayed their character; it was the home side’s turn to struggle with a cross into their box and, as the ball bounced around, Nick Glover steered the ball into the corner of the net to earn Dominoes the point that, on the balance of play, was the least that they deserved.
Dominoes are in league action again on Saturday 12th December as they travel to Cheadle Town Reserves where they will hope to maintain their good run of form.
[box type=”info” ]Stone Dominoes: Bould (c), E.Adams, Thorp, Steele, Roberts, Foyle, Glover, Lindop (Byles 73), Hughes (Rowe 83), Arnold (L.Adams 86), Cooper; Subs not used: Kenny, Marsh
Goals: Barrington 45, 75, Revitt 86 (Walsall Phoenix); Cooper 40, 70, Glover 89 (Stone Dominoes)[/box]
