Report

Woodstock Sports returned empty handed on Saturday from a tough opener at VCD Ath who finished in 3rd spot last season.

VCD started the quicker of the two sides but Sports put a good move together after 7 minutes when Lynden Rowland crashed a header against the post following a great cross from Louis Valencia. After this Sports struggled to keep the ball and were troubled on a few occasions by some quick breaks by the home team which in most cases resulted in efforts going wide although Nick Shaw did well to block a cross shot just prior to the break. Sports almost snatched the lead in added time when a corner broke to Damiene Kynaston who volley was turn around the post by the Home keeper.

Sports were hit by a sucker punch two minutes into the second half when they were caught in possession and VCD broke quickly to score through Bennett. This seemed to wake Sports up and the introduction of Joe Sands on 60 minutes started to cause the Home side problems. VCD broke once more on 70 minutes but failed with a one on one and two minutes later Sports should have pulled level man of the match Louis Valencia’s shot was half saved by the home keeper but Lyndon Rowland was unable to turn the ball home. This miss was vital as within two minutes VCD doubled their lead where caught in possession and VCD broke quickly to score through Purslove.

The game now really opened up as Woodstock pushed to get back into the game, which suited VCD’s counter attacking nature, Lewis Taylor did well to clear off the line and with 5 minutes left Joe Sands cut in from the left and fired in a shot that deflected over the home keeper. Woodstock pushed on and were a little unlucky not to get a penalty following a challenge on Rowland, but VCD held on for a deserved 3 points.

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