Charfield in win mode once again (From Gazette Series)

Charfield in win mode once again

Charfield AFC 4 Newent Town 2

This was a lively game in which forwards always held the upper hand, and goals seemed guaranteed from the start. Playing up the slope, Newent pressed hard for the first ten minutes, drawing a fine save from Craig Luker in the Charfield goal.

The initiative then passed to the home side, with Kris Lee going close and Sammy Deacon, elevated from the reserves, firing against a post, before the visitors broke away after twenty minutes and Richie Hayward ran on to a long ball to score easily, somewhat against the run of play.

Within a minute Charfield were level when Terry Cooper latched on to a clearance from Luker and lobbed the Newent keeper from the edge of the box. And in their very next attack the home side took a deserved lead when Nick Ackland and Lee combined to put Deacon through to score his debut goal for the first team.

Charfield continued to press until the interval, and forced a succession of corners, but Newent were always dangerous on the break, and Luker was forced into a number of excellent saves. These included a piledriver from the lively Paul Groves, and a penalty after 40 minutes from Hayward, when Paul Spill was unlucky to bring down Adrian Viner in the box.

The second half rapidly took on a regular pattern, with Charfield dominant, and after a quarter of an hour the home side scored the best goal of the game when Ackland and Lee worked the ball up the left with a series of deft first touches until Ackland ran through to apply the coup de grace. Charfield have rarely enjoyed the luxury of a two-goal lead this season, and this one only lasted for five minutes before Groves scored with an excellent free kick from 25 yards out.

However, the home side were determined not to let their lead slip away, and Mark Young and Kris Lee both went close before Sean Rigg scored confidently five minutes from the end shortly after coming on as substitute to make the final score 4-2. Rigg is a young striker with the kind of impressive pace that frightens defenders; he should have a very bright future.