A Local School Football Report
The world was watching the sleepy village of Tisbury in anticipation of a football match which had a small matter of local pride at stake. This was the game that would measure just how far Tisbury had come since the arrival of Coach Chandler, after an 11-1 defeat in this fixture last season, when he had been the coach of today’s opposition!
The sun was out and so were the crowds. Everyone thought that kick off had been delayed because the ref hadn’t turned up, when the real reason was the traffic jam outside the ground as the supporters poured into the ground.
As the cheerleaders began their dance the game started. The first few minutes were a very close affair with both sides testing the keepers. Just as it seemed the Lambs were getting the upper hand, disaster struck...not once, but 3 times as the capacity crowd were stunned into silence. Ludwell scored 3 goals! The question that was being whispered amongst the crowd now though, was would Tisbury have the spirit to fight back?
Jordan “The Skipper” Hornby rallied the team and come back they did! First Kyle “On me Noggin” Kent turned the ball past the helpless Ludwell keeper with his knee, then Jo Jo “watch me weave” Boyce doubled Ludwell’s misery with a second goal – it was now Tisbury 2 Ludwell 3! As half time approached the Lambs fans started to believe but then......Disaster! A fourth goal for Ludwell, to make the half time score Tisbury Lambs 2 Ludwell 4
After a little half time pep talk, the Lambs were quick out of the blocks. Liam “The engine” Skinner busy in midfield and Jo Jo “watch me weave” Boyce keeping the Ludwell defenders busy turning them inside out and upside down! It was no surprise when Jo Jo pulled another goal back for Tisbury to make it 4-3.
However it was then the turn of Ludwell to put Tisbury under a bit of pressure. Harry “Swinger” Shepherd and James “Cruncher” Ashley were kept busy at the back and Declan “The Cat” Hiscox was pulling off some fine saves in goal but finally the resistance was broken as Ludwell went 5-3 up.
Jack “the laces” Fisher started warming up on the sidelines. Surely the Lambs were dead and buried now? Think again Batman! The Lambs poured forward and were rewarded with a sublime strike from Kyle “On me Noggin” Kent to make the score Tisbury 4 Ludwell 5. As the seconds ticked away, Mac “Fancy Footwork” Bowden Cooke narrowly missed a header on the back post. It seemed all was lost as young Josh “let me at ‘em” Pinhorn stepped onto the pitch for his debut. But wait, just as the final whistle beckoned, one last attack saw confusion in the Ludwell penalty area and there was Sport Billy, Jordan “The Skipper” Hornby to smash the ball into the net to send the home crowd wild! What a comeback from a team who refused to know when they were beaten, making the final score Tisbury Lambs 5 Ludwell 5. It seems Coach Chandler’s job was safe….. for another game at least!