Convincing win for Falcons as Colts fire blanks

Report by Hamish Mackintosh

There was a definite Autumnal feel as the Falcons warmed up at Fortress Carlisle Park this morning for their cup showdown with Bracknell Town FC.

Having failed to conquer today’s opponents in last season’s encounters, Falcons were put through some intense pre-match drills by Paul and Andy whilst the Bayern Munich-clad Bracknell boys looked like they could spread the ball about a bit themselves in their warm-up. All in all a good battle seemed on the cards for the chilly morning.

It certainly didn’t take the boys long to warm the (almost capacity) crowd up with a superbly worked opening goal, which saw Eadoin and Pete’s neat passing interplay lead to a beautifully tucked-away effort from (soon to be) hat-trick hero, Max. Before security had time to usher all the parents back over the respect rope, Falcons were 2 up! This time a deft touch from Matthew (from a Pete corner) was, once again, expertly sent into the onion bag by the on-form Max. With team (and spectator’s) nerves well and truly settled so early, the Falcons set about providing one of the best team performances this season with crisp passing, excellent movement and the rock-solid back three of Louis, Matthew and Archie meaning that our star-keeper, Jacob barely had a save to make in the first quarter.

Wise-money (possibly advised by Ray Winston’s computer-generated head) was on Bracknell staging a comeback in the 2nd quarter as they didn’t look that bad a side, Falcons, however, had other ideas and a Matthew assist provided Max with the perfect opportunity to complete his hat-trick indecently early in the game (3-0) . From that point on, Bracknell heads went down a little and Falcons solidified their dominance with more assured passing, solid defensive work and an assist from Max, which allowed Eadoin to open his account with a well-taken shot (4-0). Falcons were coasting and the parents in the crowd breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that possibly…just possibly…this might mean a tantrum-free Saturday if the score-line remained this convincing!

The Falcons continuity continued with Gabriel, Marcus and Christopher all coming on and helping maintain the momentum. Bracknell were left further forlorn with Gabriel notching in the corner from another Pete assist (5-0) and the one-sidedness of the game was really hammered home when a Marcus pass to Eadoin was sweetly struck into the top-corner and Falcons were romping away with the tie (6-0).

By this point, Archie had taken over from Jacob in goal but was having very little to do as Louis and Matthew were assured in defence and mopped up any attempts by Bracknell to get back in the game. Pete, Jacob and Christopher were providing sterling shifts in the midfield, breaking up play and when the ball broke to Marcus on the right wing, he rounded the defender to slot away Falcon’s seventh at the beleaguered Bracknell goalie’s near-post (7-0). Respect to Bracknell they continued to dig in and get something out of the game and a fine solo effort from one of their forwards until Archie (the cat) clawed it back from over his head and kept the Falcons’ sheet clean. (I felt particularly drawn to mention this save given he’s standing right behind me with a blunt instrument of some description ready to be used!)

Not to be outdone by Max’s hat-trick exploits, Eadoin completed his own with a fine effort after Marcus and Pete combined to further bamboozle the shell-shocked Bracknell defence (8-0). An outstanding score-line given the close games between Falcons and today’s opposition last season. Well warranted MoTM for Pete who was tireless in midfield and incisive in attack. The Fortress remains in-tact…the Falcons have another cup game next weekend and not even that lady walking all the yappy dogs could harsh the mellow of a damn fine team performance from the Falcons.