Barnes Stormers FC succumbed to their Championship opponents on Sunday, some 70 places above them in the SSFL, in a 1-5 loss in the the first of their two Dylan Rigobert Trophy group stage cup matches.
"Fair play to West Norwood, they're in the championship for a reason and today they showed their skill" said manager Tom Jackson, "Having said that, we definitely didn't play at out best and I think the second half showed it with a much closer contest and scoreline".
Barnes had gone 0-3 down in the first half, prompted largely by a well taken solo goal from West Norwood's right winger. However a stern half-time pep talk from the gaffer and a couple of second half substitutes seemed to kick Barnes into gear and they played much better pulling back a consolation goal to boot. It was some nice link up play across the front 3 that enabled Kai to play Joseph Zubaidy into space behind the opposition defence leaving him to cooly slot it home. Whilst it gave a small boost to Barnes, it wasn't enough to get them storming forwards and grabbing any further goals. A last minute shot from Norwood sealed the game and a 1-5 win.
Despite the scoreline, there were some fine saves from Barnes Stormers new young goalkeeper, Billy Nicolaou, who pulled some brilliant saves to keep his team in the hunt in the second half. Obviously disappointed with the result and their performance, the team have time to reflect, practice and hone their skills in a friendly on Sunday 18th April to prepare for their final group stage game against Junction Elite 3rd XI on April 25th.
Meanwhile, Barnes Stormers will be hoping Junction Elite can beat West Norwood this weekend meaning the final group game leaves everything to be played for, so, for one week only - come on Junction Elite!
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