Match 19. Woodbridge Town v Stanway Rovers

Saturday 29th December 2012 @3pm Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties Premier Division WOODBRIDGE TOWN 3-2 STANWAY ROVERS Notcutts Park, Fynn Road, Woodbridge Admission: £6.50 Programme: £1 (A5, 36p) Attendance: 113 Food: Bacon and Egg Roll, £2.25

Drink: Guinness, £3.40, Cup-a-soup: £1

Todays choice of game influenced by the weather forecast, the rain not expected to hit Ipswich until after kick off.  I arrived 10 minutes before the start and the pitch was in super condition considering the last fortnight weather.  Being open on three sides and the strong winds helped keep the pitch fairly dry.  The rain only came down for the last half hours play and although the grass became slippery, the bounce of the ball remained true.  The dugouts on the far touchline, the club building which incorporates the tea bar is next to the turnstile.  The selection and standard of food at Notcutts is excellent.  One to visit for the tea hut connoisseurs. The bench seated stand and covered standing accommodation are adjacent to each other on the same touchline next to the clubhouse.   Both sides played to a good standard on football and skill, much better than the Step 4 game I saw 3 days earlier. The first 20 minutes was played without much goalmouth incident, both sides struggling to cope with the strong left to right windy conditions.  On 25 minutes Ross Gilfedders 30 yard shot was turned over the bar by the Stanway keeper.  Stanway took the lead on the half hour when Rymers shot from the edge of the penalty area beat Dixon. Jonathan Fryatts cross after 43 minutes was deflected over by Gilfedder in an uneventful first half.

The second half played at a faster tempo, and on 50 minutes, Paul Berrys hit the crossbar from 30+ yards and the keeper was beaten. Stanway made it 2-0 after 58 minutes when a cross from the wing was despatched by Bentley.  The Woodpeckers didn’t give up and launched an amazing fight back when with 15 minutes left, the substitute rose to flick in a corner.  The equaliser came with ten minutes to go. A shot by Berry took a defection of the defenders knee wrong footing the keeper. After 80 minutes when Paul Berry's shot was deflected in by Kelsey Trotter to make it 2-2. With a minute plus stoppage time a mazy run from the wing by Gilfedder, going past 3 defenders before being brought down inside the area.  Scopes sent the keeper the wrong way to complete the comeback.