Co-bosses Carl Wilson and Dan Monaghan were impressed with the performance from their Tydd St Mary side as they ground out a hard fought 1-0 away victory against Whittlesey A to make progress in the Intermediate Shield on Saturday.
The Saints, holders of the Intermediate Shield, were playing Whittlesey A for the first time since they met in the final back in May.
The first half started at a frantic pace which set the tempo for the whole game. Whittlesey enjoyed most of the possession early on, but never really tested David Cooper in the Tydd goal.
However, when Tydd got control of the play in the middle of the park with the dynamic midfield pairing of Paul Newcombe and Darren Rawthorn, they looked threatening.
The first flashpoint saw speedy Saints winger Nick Ainslie get away from the defence when he knocked the ball down the right wing – but he was caught by an extremely late and robust tackle by a Whittlesey player that set tempers flaring from both sides.
At the other end, Whittlesey continued to press and could have been a goal up if not for some excellent defending and a top notch one-on-one save from Cooper.
However, it was Tydd who took the lead in the 32nd minute from a well cleared corner which set up a quick counter attack. Some quick passing and free flowing football followed between the brothers Nick and Jordan Ainslie which climaxed in a fine pass from the latter to find the onrushing Tim Lowe.
A trademark calm finish duly followed to put the Saints 1-0 ahead at the break.
Tydd started the second half brightly and almost sealed the win when Max Burrell played a defence-splitting pass to Lowe, who floated an exquisite chip over the keeper – only to see it drift the wrong side of the post.
Whittlesey then kicked into gear and piled the pressure on for nearly the whole of the second half, pinning Tydd into their own half, causing lots of problems and having what seemed like an endless number of corners.
The hosts could have taken the game to extra time if not for some excellent defending from the whole team and a colossal performance from the centre half partnership of Karl Smith and Josh Slater.
Tydd skipper Will Kirkham added “I’ve never been more proud of an all-round team performance. Yes, we rode our luck at times but sometimes in football you make your own luck.
“As for our goal; it’s the best breakaway goal I’ve ever seen but that’s the kind of quality we have in our side. We have that ability to produce moments of magic like that. If we perform to this level every week then who knows what we can achieve.”
Saturday: Tydd v Crowland Reserves (2pm).
