Fitz Derail Girton Title Charge

Fitz 2-1 Girton

Fitz today left Girton’s title ambitions hanging by a thread, beating them by one goal in a tight encounter.

It didn’t take Fitz long to get off the mark, Akram beating a few defenders and seeing his shot punched directly into Harry Gamsu’s path by the keeper. Gamsu made no mistake, striking with precision to make it 1-0.

Girton began to apply pressure to the Fitz defence, but their efforts were thwarted by Max Stechman at centre-back who, along with Johnson, prevented a whole host of Girton opportunities throughout the match.

Despite Girton’s midfield domination, they lacked penetration as an attacking force, rarely threatening Fitz’s backline or offering their strikers any options.

After a couple of near misses at either end, Fitz’s Akram and Girton’s Miguel and Wong both going close, it was Fitz who scored next through debutant Ayres.

A swift counter-attack saw Ayres glide through the Girton defence, finishing the move with a sumptuous strike to double Fitz’s advantage.

A stern half-time team talk saw Girton emerge rejuvenated after the break and Fitz were largely on the back foot for the remaining 45 minutes.

However, some schoolboy defending from Girton saw Fitz awarded a free-kick only 10 yards out for a back-pass. Ed Evans smashed a powerful effort straight into the Girton wall, before the referee controversially blew his whistle to signal a re-take, deeming that several Girton players had run out before the kick had been taken. Evans’ second attempt fared no better than his first, Girton clearing their lines without undue difficulty.

Sloppy midfield work from the Fitz team saw Girton’s Tom Bordell played into space. Bordell’s jinking run left the Fitz defenders for dead and he made no mistake with the finish, to leave the score at 2-1.

A thrilling final 15 minutes were completely dominated by Girton, who looked strong in attack and were pretty unlucky not to salvage a point from the match. On the rare occasion that Fitz did counter-attack, they looked tired and Evans failed to capitalise on several chances up-front.

Girton captain Andy Stone told his players after the game: “We played well today but were unlucky not to have scored another goal… I’d much rather we’d have had a shit game but got a result. We need to learn from this ahead of our clash with Homerton next week in Cuppers”

Fitz captain James Gillingham said “This result was a great birthday present for me. All in all we deserved the win, and despite having several injuries and a few others unable to play, I was proud of the lads today. We’re now looking to the next game which is against Jesus in Cuppers, it looks like it’ll be the game of the season!”

The Tab’s Man of the Match: Harry Gamsu, Fitz

Don’t miss TAB TV’s post-match interviews the Fitz and Girton boys.

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