Fledglings gain an entertaining draw away at Bicester.

Bicester 4s/5s 4 – 4 Leighton Buzzard Fledglings

The Fledglings fought out an entertaining draw away at Bicester.

The home side scored early but were pegged back when, joint player of the match, John Field raced down the left hand side to latch on to a Howard Gregory cross and slap the ball past the keeper. This exchange set the pattern for the match; Bicester went ahead again only for Adrian Gotzheim to square the ball for Gregory to calmly finish and put Leighton back on level terms. Again Bicester took the lead but following an interchange of passes down the left flank, Gregory played the ball into Peter Gale who spun and shot at goal. Though the keeper saved, the ball looped up into the air, where first to react Stuart Hart calmly volleyed the ball into the Bicester goal.

As half-time approached Leighton enjoyed their best spell of the game and were unlucky not to take the lead when, joint player of the match, Jordan Field was played in on goal but saw his flicked shot go agonisingly wide.

Leighton started the second half positively and deservedly took the lead when David Hooker passed back to Hart at a short corner, who then slammed home a shot for Leighton to take the lead. Owen Crossan, playing in a new role in defence began to have more influence on the game and helped the Fledglings continue to create chances from the right hand-side. Leighton came closest when Hugh Hatt-Lipscomb looked destined to score but a desperate tackle just forced his shot past the left hand post.

Despite Leighton’s strong play Bicester rallied and broke through to equalise. With only moments to go the Fledglings had one last chance to win it. Gotzheim skillfully dribbled into the D and struck for goal only to see the ball miss by a fraction. In the end a draw was a fair result.

Final score: 4 - 4 draw
Player(s) of the Match: John Field and Jordan Field