To Feet from the Jaws of Victory

Report by Liam Johnstone

Pitchbound and back with a vengeance, Best Friends rode forth in their third game of the Powerleague season still looking to move the needle from a paltry zero points.

Heading into this fixture full throttle, Bayley notched his second of the season to give the Friends a rare lead. The early offing saw the Best on top, dominating possession during promising patches of play in their pursuit of a two-goal cushion. BFU hit their first speed bump in the early first half however, as a vicious counter from Five and Drive saw the opposition rewarded with an equaliser against the run of play.

Handed a lifeline by the referee, Friends would be given the chance for retribution from the penalty spot. Cometh the hour, cometh James Bayley. Unfazed by the spotlight, the weight of a two-game losing streak lying heavy on his shoulders, the Best Friends striker hit the bottom-left corner with aplomb, the Five and Drive goalkeeper left stranded in the wake of his stunning strike.

At 2-1 down Drive hit the gas to power three past an awestruck Friends defence, who would again answer back in vehement retaliation. T. Easton and Schofield closed out a tightly contested first half, each adding their names to the scoresheet to take the teams into the second half tied at four apiece.

Rudely awoken from their half-time slumber, Friends would be caught twice in quick succession after play resumed. Bleary-eyed and bedazzled by Five’s attacking prowess, BFU were all of a sudden down by two, and lo it settled in the stomach, somewhere between an awkwardly-timed pre-kick-off meal and a flourish of pre-match nerves, that familiar sinking feeling as the yawning shadow of defeat loomed in the near distance.

Backs pressed firmly against the wall, Best Friends, in need of a shot to the arm to shake off their second half lethargy, would find inspiration from their number one. Lacey would be called upon as the Friends found themselves on the wrong side of a spot kick. Five’s striker was denied his chance to add a seventh, as heroically stretching to his left and parrying the penalty wide, Lacey would keep the ball from the net and hope alive for a Best Friends comeback.

Thus came the endeavour; mercurial movement from debutant Will Bindley, shots from far and wide from last week’s goalscorer Schofield and all before B. Easton came the closest, crashing a shot onto the woodwork in the twilight of this evening’s contest. All the promise of a now embittered BFU would prove insufficient however as Five and Drive cruised into the sunset two goals ahead of the Best.

Offering as penetrative an insight as his earlier incursions into enemy territory, Bayley would lament “we started well”. Closer than ever to a positive outcome, but ultimately undone by a swift second half double from Drive, Friends’ efforts would prove fruitless in their attempt to yield points from this fixture’s goalmouth harvest. The Powerleague season still young, Best Friends would look on to next week as they did in the last, ever in hope of an increasingly elusive three points.

The search goes on, Best Friends forever.