Men's 3s vs Thirsk 2

Promising start for the 3s today with an early goal following a shot from Derek Moore, helped over the line by Pete Edwards (2nd game back following surgery)

We continued to have the majority of possession & play through the 1st half with good skills & linking play between Ollie Gray, Ben Pumphrey, Henry Silva & Jamie Metcalfe. Unfortunately the Thirsk 7 foot goal keeper, man of the match, was playing a blinder & kept multiple shots out.

We did well transferring the ball from side to side with good interchanges between Jake Wheatley & Freddie Birkin.

Thirsk always looked dangerous on the fast break away counter attack. Myself, Stuart Aucott, Joe Garbutt, Gabe Godfrey & Mally managed to contain them. When called on, Mally made very some crucial saves.

The Second half started off with a bit more pressure form Thirsk but the defence & mid-field manged to contain them early on.

Again the Thirsk keeper kept out multiple shots on goal adding to Stockton frustration. Stockton dropped from the early good work of fast accurate passing, cutting through Thirsk lines, to trying to dribble past multiple players & get dispossessed.

Thirsk eventually succeeded with one of their fast counter attacks & their young player manages to slide one past Mally.

A second fast counter attack towards the end of the game saw their very fast forward out run old me & round Mally for 3rd goal.

Stockton kept pushing & attacking to the end but frustration was evident. Ollie Gray received a rough tackle & after a bit of handbags by both players, was shown a green card. I also got a green for pointing out to the umpire that tussle was not one sided.

Overall a very good game. A draw would have been a fair result.