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Stones 6 Devils 4
Devils finished
2009/2010 in 6th place in Division 2 after a 6-4 defeat at
Stones in the final game of the season on Tuesday (27th).
Ironically Devils
season started and ended in the same style, with a loss to
Stones and by virtue of those results Stones leapfrogged Devils
in the table after this final game. Devils avoided bottom spot
after Wingspan II were held to a draw against Cherry Lane last
Saturday. Despite this Devils certainly ended the season in
wooden spoon form with this the 12th defeat in a row in 2010.
This match though ended on a positive with the final goal of the
season scored by Dave Frampton who is now retiring from 11
aside. Dave has played 51 times in three seasons for Devils and
scored 7 goals, mainly playing out of position in midfield after
a long career as a striker.
Devils made a good
start here and led after twenty minutes thanks to a great strike
from wide right by Will Burgess after he met Dave's through
ball. However the advantage was conceded by half-time with
Devils inability to hold possession showing as Stones managed to
exert control of the game. A long shot from a short corner
levelled the scores and two further strikes made it 3-1 to
Stones at half-time.
A fourth two minutes
into the second-half made it a winning lead though Devils stayed
in the game with goals at regular intervals in the second half.
Will hooked home from a wide angle for his second and after a
penalty restored Stones three goal lead Will completed his
hat-trick with a low shot for his 20th goal of the season.
Again the home side
restored the margin of three before Framps made his big exit,
moving onto a through ball and scoring with a trademark powerful
finish to make it a 6-4 final score.
While the season has
ended very poorly this year there have been bright points along
the way. Will's 20 goals puts him 2nd on the Devils XI all-time
list and the front two of Will and Rickie was amongst the more
impressive in the league in the middle part of the season.
Further back Ashley Iles has been the standout consistent
performer in the back four, while Phil Jackson has been a very
good addition since joining in October. Framps has again been
invaluable in his commitment in the middle and again was joint
top of the appearances list with Ash and Ben.
However away from
this Devils have struggled to find a regular eleven with the
quality needed to compete effectively in games over ninety
minutes. Looking to next season new manager Lloyd will likely be
keen to retain the better part of this season's squad while a
group of new players will definitely be required to restore the
numbers in a squad that has been down to the bare bones since
mid season this time around. |
Sporting Devils Football Club
