Procladd Shephallbury Way 10:30 Kick Off Scorers Lane 1 Bartlett 1 Assists N. Parker 1 O. Wisker 1

Starting XI Adrian Lee Mark Pallister Josh Bartlett Kieran Hufford Chris Parker Craig Winch Oliver Wisker Chris Thompson Sam Jones Pete Lane Neil Parker Subsitutions Unused Subs Gareth Rees

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Report

After a disappointing exit from the Division Cup it was now time to start thinking about the league again. Today Colts hosted Procladd, a fixture which saw a 13 goal thriller last time out. Though there were a handful of goals during this game it was pretty much the only similarity.

The game started quite well for Colts passing the ball relatively well and working the first attempt on goal. The make shift side, hit by injuries and unavailability seemed to be holding together well. The play started to slip a bit for Colts when they reverted to the old long ball style, which was clearly effected by the low morning sun and the high wind. Procladd seemed to be playing the smarter football, keeping the ball on the deck and passing the ball around.

The first goal of the game went to Procladd with a long range shot beating Lee and dipping under the bar. In hindsight, the player really should have been put under more pressure. This really upped the Procladd team, though Colts, knowing they can score goals if they create chances they should be able to hit the back of the net.

A few belated tackles by Colts players annoyed the Procladd team a little, with them stating they need to play Colts at their game, which it seems is dirty? After a period of penalisations in the Colts half we saw the next big talking point of the game, a spell of possession for Colts ended with N. Parker being brought down in the box. The Procladd defender, sure that it was a dive, sprang back to his feet and proceeded to "attack" (hug) N. Parker, this reaction saw him sent off leaving his team with 10 men for what was probably about an hour that was remaining.

Lane stepped up and put the penalty low into the bottom left corner, 1-1 and Procladd down to 10 men, were things about to brighten up for Colts? Unfortunately at times it was hard to tell that Colts had the extra man with Procladd still seeming to have control of the midfield. An example of this was the next goal of the game, with the ball in the Colts box not cleared properly there was space for a half-volley which found the back of the net. The score at half time was 1-2 in Procladd's favour.

The second half seemed to show a lack of desire to win by Colts. Despite their numbers, Procladd managed to work a goal from the right hand side where a cross was whipped in and their player beat C. Parker to the header. 1-3 down, Colts needed to up their work rate if they wanted to take anything from the game.

Colts were able to get one goal back, a throw in from the left by Lane was flicked on and Barlett managed to get a free header and sneak the ball in at the back post. This was promising for Colts, though Procladd were proving hard to break down.

Thompson earned himself a yellow with a sliding challenge just inside the Colts half; the Procladd player insisting he was through on goal was calling for the red. He was shown the yellow and Procladd rewarded a free kick. Thompson did well not to react to a tame punch to his jaw which the referee seemed to miss.

As Procladd started to tire Colts did get more of the ball and fashioned some chances, though in the end nothing came of them. The game finished 2-3 to Procladd with Colts failing to make the extra man count. You do wonder what the result would have been with a few more of the usual starters in the line-up.