8th February 2016

Monday League Review
8th February 2016
---------------------------------------------------------
Griffring Utd 8 - 2 PSL
---------------------------------------------------------
There were two stars of the show in this encounter of two old foes but the scoreline doesn't tell the full story of what was a very good game of football. Firstly there was the brick wall that was Lee Edmondson who kept out everything thrown at him with several brilliant saves that left the PSL players looking on in disbelief.
To emphasise the feeling of unjust Jimmy Speight turned on the style and just had one of those nights when everything he touched turned to gold.
It started when Martin Wall collected the ball in midfield and played a beautifully weighted ball through to the speeding Speight who took the ball in his stride and finished clinically into the bottom corner giving Zach Davies no chance in goal.
Just as PSL were recovering from the shock of going behind Speight then became the provider as he crossed the ball over to Wall on the left wing who scored emphatically to double their lead.
Griffring started to believe in themselves and played some wonderful football as Wall, Chris Neville and Nick Mulrooney got involved in midfield and from a great move Speight grabbed his second with a shot fired across Davies into the far corner.
In the next attack Griffring nearly hit their fourth as Alan Airey went close but as Davies made a good save from the corner they didn't have to wait long as Wall instinctively turned and hit a shot towards goal but as Davies cleared the ball it fell to Speight and he hit it first time from 15 yards out and drilled it into the bottom corner for a great goal completing his hat trick in the process.
Not soon afterwards Speight was in dreamland as he got on the end of another Wall through ball to calmly slot under Davies for his fourth and Griffrings' fifth of the night.
The link up play between Martin Wall and Jimmy Speight was the highlight and talking point of the first half as that combination had virtually dismantled the PSL defence on its own with Edmondson in great form in goal the omens didn't look good for a demoralised PSL side.
At half time to their credit PSL regrouped and after a couple of substitutions they managed to pull one back as Matt Heap played in Chris Greenwood who drew Edmondson and "nutmegged" the flailing keeper to make it 1-5.
Almost immediately Greenwood returned the favour for Heap as he received the ball with his back to goal and back heeled it across the area for Heap to smash into the top corner, Griffring were now under the cosh and two more excellent saves by Edmondson kept the PSL attack at bay as the game looked like it was back in the balance but from their next attack Grifffring won a corner that was driven hard and low and rebounded unluckily into the net to restore the deficit and knock PSL out of their stride.
As Griffring piled forward sensing blood Nick Mulrooney received the ball on the left of the area turning on a sixpence and placed a curling shot with the instep of his right foot into the far corner for a great goal and finishing off any PSL revival at the same time.
Speight wasn't finished though and quite fittingly he got the goal of the night.
Mulrooney and Wall played a neat one two on the right wing before Mulrooney played in a peach of a cross that Speight leapt and fired in on the volley into the top corner with his left foot giving Davies no chance to make it 8-2.
It was initially the saves of Edmondson that PSL were bemoaning but in the end they couldn't cope with the clinical finishing of that man Jimmy Speight.
PSL stay in fifth on 12 points whilst Griffring move upto sixth on 10 points.