RANGERS DOWNED BY ROVERS

CPR Firsts 0 - Barstonworth Rovers Firsts 1

CPR's season opener ended in a dissapointing one-nil reversal Sunday evening.  Without maybe doing quite enough to deserve a win, the performance certainly did enough to merit a draw in a closely contested match, which saw Barnstonworth score the only goal of the game midway through the second half.  

The match was fairly even throughout, and though midfielder Kevin was unlucky to see his clever effort from distance come off the bar after spotting the Barnstonworth goalkeeper off his line early on, this proved to be the closest CPR came to scoring.  The first half did see CPR work the ball round the back of the Barnstonworth defence on a couple of occassions, yet unfortunately a clear effort on goal failed to materialize.

The second half continued in much the same vien as the first, with plenty of midfield play from both teams without too many clear-cut chances.  Finally the deadlock was broken in somewhat unfortunate fashion for CPR when an innocuous high ball played into the penalty box was deflected into the path of the Barnstonworth center forward and resulted in a well taken goal.  The final quarter of the game saw CPR push increasing numbers forward in search of the equaliser, which almost came when Tony headed just wide from a good position following impressive work from the right touchline by Pat.  This proved to be the closest CPR came in the second half as players tired.    

STARTING 11: Ben, Mark, Josh, Andy, Elie, Pat, Javier, Danny D, Kevin, Tony, Yannick.

Subs: Toph, Danny R, Amos, Jermaine