SUNDAY 24TH FEBRUARY 2008

Paul Birch Reserves got back to winning ways with a deserved 5-1 victory
against Fairfield Reserves away.

Morale was rock bottom following three heavy defeats in a row but after
a good training session mid-week, McCarthy back from injury and
T.O'Shaughnessy over his birthday celebrations, PB were confident they
could get something out of the game with bottom of the table Fairfield.

Rutherford was unavailable and with Ashioti only able to offer his
support from the sidelines, the gaffer had to fill a hole at centre back
and decided to go with the tall centre forward Knight alongside
A.O'Shaughnessy. In an effort to mix things up and try and move on from
the poor performances of the last few weeks, G.Sparrow and
T.O'Shaughnessy were also pushed up front to try and make the most of
their pace.

Things started brightly for PB who had left the disgrace of last weeks
game behind them and were putting together some good passing moves. The
small Fairfield centre forward was putting himself about, but strong, no
nonsense defending from PB kept things under control.

Disaster struck mid way through the half however as Fairfield broke
down the left sending a driven cross into the box which was put away by
the alert striker. PB do not cope well when they concede first and there
was a real worry that the team might now lose faith and collapse as they
have in previous weeks.

Luckily PB hit back almost instantly with good work from
T.O'Shaughnessy who chased down the Fairfield defender, stole the ball
from him and then took the ball into the box before unleashing an
unstoppable shot past the keeper.

This goal seemed to relax PB who then went on to take control of the
game. A pin point pass from Rees at left back shortly after picked out
G.Sparrow who beat his man and the keeper to make it 2-1. PB then
further increased their lead after Paine cooly finished from within the
box. McCarthy was also now man marking the lively small Fairfield
striker who was dictating their play and this seemed to succeed in
stunting their progress.

Half time 3-1

Manager Pete Sparrow must have welcomed a half time talk where his team
were not struggling. He urged all the players to remain focussed and
reminded them that although they appeared in control of the game,
another 45 minutes had to be played out to secure victory.

The second half started a bit scruffily for PB and it took a while for
them to get back into their rhythm. Fairfield had a few good chances but
failed to put them away. They were punished for this as G.Sparrow beat
the offside trap to score his second of the game, making it 4-1. The 3
goal cushion was enough for PB to take their foot off the gas and play
out the rest of the game.

Before the final whistle however, P.Partridge once again popped up in
the box to score yet another goal, putting him clear as the team's
leading goal scorer. Bioletti on as a sub, also had a last minute goal
disallowed after a suspect offside decision went against the young
striker, robbing him of his second goal for the club.

Full time 5-1

Fairfield (again) at home is next weeks game and PB will hope they can
at least match if not better their impressive display today.

Man of the match: Knight. Solid performance from the centre forward
playing at centre back, clearing his lines well and helping to keep the
Fairfield strikers at bay.

Team: Willmott, G. Partridge (Li), Knight, A. O'Shaughnessy, Rees, Vlasyuk (Short), McCarthy, P.Partridge, Paine, T. O'Shaughnessy, Sparrow (Bioletti)

Subs not used: None