With last week's man of the match Peter nursing an on-again, off-again ankle injury, Sudbury welcomed back the return of a few key players in Mark and Chris, along with the cast of regulars.
Sudbury started strong with Mark, Dan F., Hori and Anthony providing a lot of pressure up front with support from Kai, Ryan, Nabil and Chris from the wing midfielder spots. A few early chances didn't drop but the pressure resulted in a near miss from Andrew running up from his stopper position. Andrew's challenge to the keeper resulted in a juicy rebound to Hori who took his time to loft it over the keeper's head for an early 1-0 lead for the visitors. Minutes later Ryan sent a beautiful ball into the center where Eugene rocketed a head ball that went just over the crossbar.
Sudbury let the hosts back into the game however with some strong play by the Norfolk FC forwards and midfielders and a perfect setup leaving their quick striker all alone with Eric. The Sudbury keeper was strong all day and aggressive on the ball, but had no chance as the hosts tied the game about midway through the half.
The knotting goal set Sudbury's offensive gears running again and the defense of Andrew, Don, Steve S. and Ivan tightened up and didn't allow the hosts much of anything for the rest of the half. Some strong passing from Eugene and Jeff in the middle resulted in a odd man advantage for the Sudbury forwards and Hori touched a beautfiul pass to Anthony who buried the shot and helped Sudbury regain the lead. Sudbury continued the pressure with Steve C. and Ryan helping to keep the ball alive in the offensive end enough for Ryan to center another well lofted ball which landed on the waiting foot of Mark in the closing minute of the half for a 3-1 lead.
The second half was not as productive on the scoreboard, but Sudbury's forwards and midfielders were showing strong signs of getting to know each other with a number of strong runs, near misses and touch and go offsides calls as the hosts barely had the ball in the Sudbury defensive end for the final 45 minutes.
The final goal would come on a burst of speed by Danny up the right sidelines off a feed from Steve C. in the middle. Danny blasted past the defenders, forced the rotating fullback to commit and lofted a perfect pass to Hori in the middle of the eighteen who blasted it one touch past the helpless Norfolk keeper for the final goal of the match.
Overall a very strong and encouraging performance against a tough, hard working and experienced club. The Sudbury lineup shifts around again next week against another team new to the OTHSL, but we're looking for the first home match of the season to be a continuation of the team's recent strong play.
Man of the match: Hori
Next up: home v. Boston Gunners
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