Q-Bike Kelburne 2s beat Grange to give them chance to win league

Q-Bike Kelburne 2nd XI vs. Grange 2nd XI 

Kelburne set off to Titwood on Saturday to play against their main rivals for this years league title Grange. Knowing that they needed three points from the game, to stand them in good stead to hopefully lift the trophy yet again, Kelburne knew that they needed a strong start. Unfortunately, the game began and Kelburne were sloppy and were finding it difficult to build the play out from the back. This resulted in Grange pressing the Kelburne defence high up the pitch and placing enormous amounts of pressure on them. Eventually, Grange took advantage of the sloppy play and won themselves a short corner which they were able to convert through the use of a drag flick. After the Grange goal, Kelburne reacted and there play began to improve, winning the ball high up the pitch Andrew Duff was able to find a foot in the oppositions D and win a short corner. The ball was pushed out and Mark Ralph flicked the ball towards the goal, the Grange keeper made a good save but however, could not keep out Andrew Bremner's rebound, placing the teams back on level pegging. After Kelburne's goal the play was open with both teams creating chances, Grange won another short corner after a soft challenge from Craig Walker was deemed illegal, which they managed to score through the use of a drag flick yet again. The play remained open and both teams were passing the ball well, it wasn't until 10 minutes before half time that Andrew Duff was able to win the ball on the half way line drive forward, up the field, play a pass to Andrew Bremner, who then returned it to Duff, who then played the ball to Mark Ralph on the back post who was able to slot the ball past the keeper at his near post. Despite Kelburne equalising Grange managed to score two before half time which was caused by weak defending and  careless passing all over the park. 

Halftime Kelburne 2 vs 4 Grange 

After the team talk at half time, Kelburne knew that this was their last chance at this years league title and that there had to be a positive reaction along with some goals. Kelburne began the half well, linking passes together and communicating better than they did in the first half. This resulted in numerous short corners and fortunately for the Kelburne side Mark Ralph was able to convert two one going in the bottom corner and the other being placed in the top left corner of the Grange goal. A draw would not be good enough for the Kelburne side to win the title, so they continued to press Grange as hard as they could. With 3 minutes to go, with great outlet passing from the Kelburne defence, Andrew Bremner found himself on the opposition 25 metre line. He played a one, two with Michael Nicol and then played the ball slightly off the floor to the penalty spot, which is where Andrew Duff struck the ball first time into the opposition goal, to make it 5-4 in favour of Kelburne. The side in yellow were able to see out the last few minutes of the game and win the match. This leaves Kelburne and Grange equal on points meaning the league will possibly go down to goal difference as long as neither team slips up along the way. 

Full time result: Kelburne 5 vs 4 Grange.