West were hit for six in this Spring Cup tie against a very good Hemel Comets team; however they shouldn’t be too disappointed as they still put in a good performance.

Comets began the stronger side, showing a lot of the skills that have seen them rise towards the top of their league (one above West), but Alex Cobb in goal more than matched them when shooting opportunities arose. Having been under pressure during the opening ten minutes, West began to see more of the ball and created openings themselves, with Greg Springall and Elliott Jay working very hard up front. Halfway through the half though, Comets took the lead from a header following a good cross. West continued to play well though, but were finding it hard to dominate possession, and after 26 minutes Comets scored again. It looked like the first half would end 2-0; however with a minute to go Comets grabbed a third, and then a fourth with the last kick of the half.

The boys gained a lot of credit though by starting the second half as if the score was level, passed the ball better, and generally stepped up a gear. A few chances soon arrived, the best of which followed a poor goal kick by the Comets keeper which was charged down by Greg; however the keeper recovered from his error in time to block Greg’s shot.

Ten minutes into the second half, Comets grabbed another, however the centre back pairing in the West defence of Ryan Maher and Adam Thornhill performed well to repel further scoring opportunities. West continued to push forward in search of a consolation, with Charlie Craigen doing well in a cameo appearance up front for the last ten minutes, however it was not to be and a few minutes from the end Comets grabbed a final goal.

 

The West boys shouldn’t be too disheartened by the result. They worked very hard for each other and played some good football at times, especially in the second half, but were beaten by a very good Comets team.