Last Saturday, we hosted Deeping Rangers FC Reserves at Millfield AutoParts Stadium for our fifteenth match of the season. The opposing team has a strong track record of competitiveness at the Premier level over the past few seasons, it also belongs to a club that has their first team playing at step 5 and we anticipated a challenging game, especially since they were one of the two teams that had defeated us earlier in the season. We shared all the necessary information during our team talk, and we're thrilled that the players took it to heart, emerging victorious in this closely contested match.

Deeping Rangers Reserves started off strong, creating several opportunities to score, but our defensive line, along with Josh, our goalkeeper, who made some incredible saves, kept them from finding the net. We quickly moved the ball from our half to theirs but were unable to convert our efforts until later in the first half when Leo scored with a fantastic finish, assisted by our diligent Liam Oliver Smith. After taking the lead, we maintained the pressure and began the second half determined to add to our 1-0 advantage.

The initial part of the second half saw our opponents take control, and they had several chances to equalize. However, once again, our goalkeeper made outstanding saves to keep us in the lead. As the second half progressed, we made some substitutions that significantly impacted the game, allowing us to gain more possession and create additional scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, we missed some chances, which gave the opposition renewed energy to push for an equalizer. Ultimately, that didn’t happen, as Jake came on and scored a second goal, effectively sealing the victory in this fiercely contested match.

The game concluded with a 2-0 win against a formidable opponent, and we were proud to finish with three U18 players on the pitch while some of our senior players outside cheered on and celebrated a fantastic result.

FCP Development 5-2 Glinton Reserves

We welcomed Glinton Res to Fulbridge Rec on Saturday.

On a very heavy pitch, both teams started well in a very evenly matched opening 15 mins.

From an attacking FCP free kick, Glinton broke away and scored a very well taken goal to lead 1-0.

The boys didn't let this affect them and continued to play attacking football for the remainder of the 1st half, creating some good chances but could not find the back of the net.

After a couple of attacking corners, eventually, one paid off with Aziz rising above everyone to score with a brilliant header to make 1-1. 40mins.

HT.

2nd half began with the boys pumped and knew what they had to do to get the 3 points.

Straight from the kickoff, the boys went after Glinton and were rewarded for this pressure when Kevin was hauled down for a penalty.

Kevin dually stepped up to slot home the penalty. 2-1. FCP. 50mins.

The boys were playing really well, but a lap in concentration from a Glinton corner cost us. 2-2. 55 mins.

For the next 10 minutes, it was again evenly matched, but from a resulting attacking corner, Aziz again rose to score with another sublime header. 3-2. FCP. 65mins.

FCP sensed they could finish the game off now and powered forward in search of that goal.

On 75 minutes, Ruben was taken out in the area, and another penalty was awarded.

This time, Ruben stepped up but smashed his effort against the bar!

Glinton had a lifeline and had a few dangerous corners and free kicks, but the FCP defence stood firm.

As Glinton pushed forward, it began to leave a lot of space for FCP to exploit, and the boys did this with aplomb with a superb team goal for Eusebio to calmly finish to make it 4-2. FCP. 85mins.

3 minutes later, the impressive Hugo on his debut tapped in to make it 5-2. FCP. 88mins.

FT.

Another top performance, in a tough battle with Glinton.
But it was in the 2nd half, where the boys really showed their quality, to seal a throughly deserved 5-2 victory.

Match Reports by
Reserves Manager Lucian Stiopu
Development Manager Dan Curral