STICKER AFC'S MARTYN DUFF WRITES ABOUT HIS TEAM'S 4-2 VICTORY OVER ELBURTON VILLA...

THANKS TO STICKER AFC MIDFIELDER MARTYN DUFF FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE SUCH AN HONEST REVIEW OF THE 4-2 VICTORY OVER ELBURTON VILLA...

"Before the game we were aware that Elburton were a team that could cause us a lot of problems, especially if we weren’t at our best. For the first 10 to15 minutes they were the better team and played some nice combinations in our half. If it wasn’t for some brave defending and brilliant saves from Kai Stone, we could’ve found ourselves a few goals behind. 

I think that as the half wore on we started to gain a bit of control and began to fashion some good chances that really should’ve resulted in us taking the lead. However, Elburton were still a constant threat with some quite direct football. Somewhat harshly we were awarded a penalty for a handball after Butts got up well to win a header. From our point of view we were obviously delighted but we can all understand why Elburton may have felt a bit aggrieved. Frank reacted fastest to the keeper’s save from the spot-kick and managed to poke the ball into their net. 

From then until half time I think that Villa let the penalty incident affect them too much which contributed to the defensive error that Jack capitalised on to give us a 2-0 lead at H.T. despite not being at our best.

They once again started the second-half at a faster tempo than us but this time we managed to wrestle back control much quicker than in the first-half. 

After an end to end passage of play we managed to win the ball in midfield and counter-attack quickly to allow Jack to do what he does best and he gave us a 3-0 lead. 

At this point I think we did something that we have so far refused to do this season by becoming a bit complacent, which resulted in them coming back into the game. We gave away two sloppy free-kicks in dangerous areas and they, like all good teams, punished us to make it 3-2. 

This woke us up and I felt we then displayed some of the best football we’ve played for a while to score our fourth goal. I’m pretty sure they didn’t touch it from the kick-off to the moment Jack chipped it beautifully over the 'keeper to make it 4-2 and claim his 8th hat-trick of the season and his 5th on the bounce. 

From then until the end I feel like we really dictated the direction of the match with a solid defence, battling midfield and explosive attack, but Villa defended well to keep the score at 4-2 until the F.T. whistle blew.

Overall I think it was a good team performance that really represented the team spirit that has built up in the squad this year. It’s left us in a pretty good position at the top of the table but we know that we haven’t actually achieved anything yet and need to keep performing in order to get to where we ultimately want to be at the end of the season. 

On a side note, I know I speak for everyone at the club when I say a massive well done to Jack Bowyer on his incredible exploits over the last 5 games. Hopefully, we’ll be able put in another good team performance next week and give him the opportunities to go on and get his 6th hat-trick in a row next week against Holsworthy. 

Also, a quick thank you to the committee members and volunteers who were out on the pitch as soon as the game finished, preparing it for the next one. Without them we couldn’t be out there having the season we are currently having. 

They’ve been every bit as big a part of it as the players and we massively appreciate them..."

Martyn Duff, midfielder, STICKER AFC...