by Nick Tither

The Blood Orange Douglas Premier Reserve men’s side fought bravely in the heat at Endeavour Park on Sunday, only to be sucker punched with minutes remaining to lose 2-1 to Redlynch.

The 3pm kick off wasn’t kind to the reserve side boasting a number of players who had played for the Division 2 side on Friday night.

With a few aching bones and the heat, neither team settled into the conditions for the opening twenty minutes, with both sides guilty of poor passing, and they therefore struggled to keep possession of the football.

Redlynch were the first to compose themselves, and were quick to try and isolate the Douglas central defenders. Using their pace up top they were able to get in behind, and after 25 minutes broke the deadlock after some quick footwork resulted in too much time and space in the Douglas box.

With a couple of tactical switches the Dragons found themselves to be more of a threat and began to get in behind the Redlynch back four.

Matthew McMaster was unlucky to hit the post, and send a shot just wide with the outside of his right foot as the first half drew to a close with Dragons still searching for their first goal.
 
Yuttana Taotong (Mew) had other ideas as he chased a seemingly lost cause and despite being closely marked by two defenders left the keeper no chance with a superb strike into the far post to make it one all heading in for half time.

The second half, with the sun at their backs instead of in their eyes, the Dragons came out on top, and McMaster had a couple of early chances but was unable to beat the keeper. As the match wore on the legs got tired, and space opened up for both sides with a winner seemingly looking the likelier for the Dragons.

Then, without long remaining, a seemingly innocuous long free-kick took a deflection off the Douglas defenders and fell kindly to a waiting Redlynch player who made no mistake and sealed all three points.

Man of the Match went to Mew who was a constant threat to the Redlynch defenders and scored a superb goal. Despite being disappointed with the result the reserve side will look forward to having a few more players cleared, and the fitness levels increasing to then kick on and become a real force in the reserve league.