Slazenger 3’s faced a top of the table clash away against Garforth in their latest division 6 south encounter and made the worst sort of starts when conceding an early goal to the hosts.
Fortunately, Slazengers weren’t behind for long when Dan Levitt managed to nudge the ball over the goal line after an earlier effort from skipper Andy Fisher hit the post and rebounded across the goal.
However, the warning signs were there for Slazengers that this was going to be a long afternoon. Time and again Garforth continued to break from deep, at pace and always had options to pass. Slazengers were having to work very hard to get a foothold in the game and whilst they did create several chances to score themselves during the first half, they failed to convert these chances. Tellingly Garforth didn’t miss their opportunities and went into the half time break 3-1 up.
The score would have been much worse but for a Man of the Match performance from keeper Richard Smyth who time and again had to provide the last desperate line of defence.
Second half Slazengers tried to play with more composure, keep possession better and pass to people in space.
Whilst, there was a slight improvement, the away team continued to conceded soft goals, often reacting second to loose balls or falling foul of a dodgy playing surface.
However, after going 5-1 down Slazengers suddenly woke up and began to compete, playing to restore a little pride. The passing was better, the away team made better use of Ian Hedges and Dan Levitt on the wings, with Robin Whawell and Ste Roberts working hard in midfield.
Aidan Hopkinson managed to convert after a long period of pressure and when Luke Gueli scored a third with 10 minutes to go, the hosts had to dig deep and defend in numbers to fend off a late resurgence.
Final score 5-3.
