Icarus Senior Squad v Citigroup FC

An unfamiliar ICARUS line up faced CityGroup FC 1sts in yet another home game and opportunity to continue the recent good form and double cup run. Club Captain Arnison and Manager Heap again provided pre-match teas and coffees for the popular Nuffield Meet and Greet.  Forced with shuffling players to compensate for the downgraded talisman Alex Wright, injured Dan Turner and the ineligibility of Scott Hyndman, the fixture offered deserved opportunities for the Junior Cup prodigies Charlie Woollatt, Adam Flemming, Ash Steel and Jamie Rose. An impressive opening few minutes saw ICARUS play in exactly the style demanded in the pre-match brief and it was not long before the first serious goalscoring chance. Adam Hutchings broke from midfield, past the forward to receive the flick on and somehow managed to over hit a lob from 10 yds. Just minutes later Hutchings was again involved, this time at the back post on 20mins where his header hit the side netting. Manager Heap was encouraged by positive signs so early on but would the goal scoring ratio remain as low as previous weeks?Citygroup looked to string passes together through the midfield of their 4-4-2 and it became evident who the skilled players were, with ICARUS responding with more pressure on the ball. There was some exemplary midfield distribution from Citygroup but the compactness of ICARUS denied Citygroup real scoring opportunities for the first 30 mins. On 30mins skipper Matt Williams was slammed whilst on the ball in the box and penalty supremo Somerville calmly converted to take the lead and allow ICARUS a little room to relax. Seemingly seconds later striker Somerville was involved again, missing a 1v1 from close range after a truly horrendous bobble.As the pressure continued to mount, Flemming also missed a golden opportunity as a perfectly delivered corner from Williams missed his head by a whisker!With Rick Campbell's defensive anticipation in fine form, he broke up play and gave Toogood a lot of work to do with the through ball down the left flank, but with Toogood's afterburners lit the amazing left footed cross that followed was beautifully met by an airborne Somerville who headed across goal to put ICARUS 2-0 up. It was great to see the top two linking up with one another.Regrettably the elation and confidence led to a drop in recovery runs and a lapse in concentration allowed Citygroup a shooting opportunity to get back in the game with a close range finish, 2-1.Half Time - 2-1. Points - play within your skill set, control the game, recovery runs/tracking.Second half Toogood well and truly took the game to the opposition, being the target at number 10, as he repeatedly stretched the Citiygroup defence and was rewarded with a goal from the right hand edge area where the keeper simply could not arrest the power in Toogood's effort into the near post. 3-1.As the game passed the 60min mark and became increasingly stretched on a surface that rapidly deteriorated, ICARUS looked to regain control, shore up the midfield and bring back the short game. Highlighting the flexibility of the squad, the removal of Woollatt led to the re-shuffle of Ash Steele into centre midfield, Alex Toogood to the right wing, Tom Somerville into the No10 and reserve keeper Jamie Rose entering the game and doing a great job as centre forward.  By this stage the chances just kept coming as ICARUS repeatedly won possession in the back line and quickly played forward through to the front 4. Ash Steele rolled his ankle which re-introduced Charlie into midfield alongside Manager Heap who had come on in a bid to rest playmaker Adam Hutchings for the impending Army Crusaders game.The game finished 3-1 and was a decent spectacle for spectators and Manager Heap as ICARUS generally looked more clinical than in previous weeks. Other points to note were that the referred being assessed played very good advantages and controlled the temperament of the game really well compared to the early rounds. The provision of linesmen also brought added authority to the fixture and the noticeably rolled pitch had a positive influence on ICARUS's ability to play some beautiful quick pass football in places.