Ravens Wood 2 Hugh Christie 1

Match 24/19/1748 - Wednesday, 18th September 2019 - Kent Academies League

Ravens Wood (1) 2 2,52
Hugh Christie (0) 1 Barden 57
Headcount: 5

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 78/1,866

Dominic Welsh, aided by Academy boss Tommy Parkinson, wrestled with a problem throughout Hugh Christie’s Kent Academies League game at Bromley’s Ravens Wood. Several times during the course of the game they changed formation in an effort to get one of their senior players, Jacob Lambert, on the ball thereby finding a cutting edge that was seriously lacking. But no matter what they tried, it was that failing that led to a defeat which, in terms of possession, should not have happened.

Hugh Christie fell behind within the opening two minutes when a cross from the left was helped on to a lanky forward who was able to tuck the ball home from close range.

The early setback stirred the Tonbridge side and three chances in the space of five minutes, all fired over, probably signalled the way this game was likely go. The best of these chances came after nine minutes when Riley Morris set up Lambert but the shot was narrowly over.

The first half was mainly one-way traffic but clear cut chances for the Angels’ side were hard come-by and the team entered the break with Ravens Wood continuing to lead with their early goal.

After three minutes of the second half, from a Dan Vitler corner, Lambert put a header against the bar but, after 52 minutes, it was the home side that doubled their lead when a pass opened up the Tonbridge defence for a shot to be buried.

With that deficit, another reshuffle in the Hugh Christie ranks saw Adam Barden thrown forward and this initiative brought a reward when following a free kick that was not cleared, Barden managed to stab the ball home.

The game then followed the same pathway as the first with Hugh Christie dominating possession but lacking any sort of potency in the final third that was going to salvage the goal. The Ravens Wood goalkeeper made a couple of decent saves and Barden managed to hit the bar but the equaliser just wasn’t going to come.

In fact, the last real act of the game was a Ravens Wood effort that hit the crossbar.