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Pre-Season Friendly

- 28/07/2010

Another tough pre-season friendly tonight for Canterbury's fledgling first team as they took on Norton Sports from the Kent League Premier Division. It was a highly competitive and tough tackling match with one or two feisty challenges, but with plenty of football to admire from both sides.

Despite losing the match 2-4, City had spells where they dominated, but weren't helped by having two of the goals conceded, one at the end of each half and by having two, out of only thirteen players, limp off injured.

Norton were the first to have the ball in the net, but fortunately an apparently good looking goal was chalked out for off-side. The first legitimate goal came from City after fifteen minutes, a right wing move ended with James Crossick, firing home from a sharp angle with an assist from John Utterson. Utterson was the first City player to limp off though, shortly afterwards, with what looked like a knee injury.

Chances came and went at both ends most notably on thirty-five, when a free kick was well dealt with at full stretch by City keeper Roddy Hayward, but he was left exposed on thirty seven minutes, when another Norton free kick seemed to drop into space in the area for a relatively easy goal, 1-1. From this point, Norton dominated the rest of the first half and the beginning of the second. They probably should have scored more, sending a free header wide, an unmarked shot also wide and blazing a shot from a suspiciously looking offside position well over. Right on half-time though, Norton got the second goal that their play had probably deserved. Making progress into the City box, the keeper was drawn out and a square pass was easily tapped home for 1-2.

The second half began in similar vein, and on fifty two minutes, City found themselves a further goal behind. A long cross field ball from the right was swept home for 1-3. Just for a moment, City were struggling. That all changed on the sixtieth minute however, when a midfield move into the box saw a one two between Jason Mills and Dan Keyte, with the latter firing home for 2-3. Now City were on the front foot and very nearly drew level two minutes later. An ariel ball from McVicar from the City right was volleyed goal bound by Bob Hitchcock but just turned over by the Norton keeper.

It was pretty much tit for tat for the rest of the game, with City pushing forward and Norton on the break, during which time either team could have scored further, but it was Norton, on eighty seven, who benefited from a gift of a goal. A hopeful ball forward, seemed to carry no threat but, City glove man Hayward was unable to clear the ball, missing his kick completely and allowing a Norton attacker the easy task of walking the ball into the empty net for a final score of 2-4.

City: Hayward, Wicks (McVicar), Frerier, Baker, Pollard, Biggington, Clossick, Leader, Hitchcock, Utterson (Keyte), Mills