A SCORE DRAW FOR PRE-SEASON OPENER

The Rustics made a welcome return to action on Saturday afternoon in the first of five pre-season friendlies. The game, which was originally due to be played at Lingfield’s home ground before being moved to Felbridge, was eventually played at the home of Westerham FC on a pitch which was far from the standard we enjoy back home at the Farm.

The line-up featured a few new faces hoping to be part of the first-team setup this season. The game began in a slightly cagey manor - Reuel Powell-Downey offering perhaps the greatest threat down the left, supported brilliantly by ‘Trialist 1’ playing at left back. A ball spread wide by the influential Tommy Lawrence was awkward for ‘Trialist 1’ to control but he expertly headed it beyond his marker and was unlucky to run out of pitch before he could cross. Shortly after, a fine punch clear from Matt Bailey, one of many throughout the game, fell to Powell-Downey who linked well with ‘Trialist 2’ upfront. Again, the ball came to ‘Trialist 1’ who laid the ball off to Lorenzo Cuozzo who couldn’t find a finish to what was an excellent counter attacking move.
Rusthall opened the scoring after 25 minutes - ‘Trialist 2’ held the ball up before playing in Reuel Powell-Downey who ran through on goal. The ball eventually fell to ‘Trialist 2’ once more who looked up briefly before curling a composed finish into the top corner, beyond the stretching dive of the keeper. Lingfield remained a threat however, and it took a brilliantly-timed tackle from ‘Trialist 1’ to stop the home side punishing a slight mix-up in defence.

Despite a long-range effort from Lawrence which flew narrowly wide, Lingfield were now on top. Two more crucial interventions from ‘Trialist 1’, and calm, composed defending from both ‘Trialist 3’ and ‘Trialist 4’ were needed to keep the scores level. The pressure eventually told though- following a few decent crosses which were dealt with well, one came in which was deflected off a Rusthall boot and fell perfectly for the diminutive Lingfield number 9 who showed that size sometimes doesn’t matter as he nodded the ball in at the front post.

The second half began brightly - Jack Smith was biting into tackles and moving the ball well and there were some promising link-ups between Cuozzo and Powell-Downey - one of which sent Reuel through but while his low shot beat the keeper, it unfortunately beat the post and rolled wide. Rusthall were back in the game now - Cuozzo had a good chance to score, Powell-Downey could have had a penalty, and ‘Trialist 1’ continued to attack down the left with great skill and determination. Tommy Lawrence found himself on the end of a hefty challenge in midfield but was soon back to putting in tackles himself, passing with his usual style and accuracy, and shooting well from the left channel - the effort was blocked and fell to Reuel who was then stopped by a magnificent save from the keeper.

Lingfield continued to move the ball well without offering any real threat to the Rusthall goal, thanks mainly to the excellence of both ‘Trialist 3’ and ‘Trialist 4’ in defence, and the composed midfield play of Daniel Kommu and Connor Knight.

There were a few tired legs on both sides towards the end but for the first game of the pre-season spell, Jimmy and the boys will be quite happy with the run out and the positive performances from the new faces.

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