Already short of players because of holidays, Eastwood lost the services of Dave Jones to the 1st team, Cal McGarry on holiday and both Jake Pearson and Connor Whiles not available.

Thanks and appreciation to Randy, Harry Barnes, “DJ” Dom Hayes and Reece Bancroft for answering the call.

The match itself was played on a hard and uneven pitch at the Roko, Eastwood started well and were in control as Magdala did not pose any problems to the solid back four of Eastwood.

In the midfield it was a first game of the season for Kurt Harrison and both he and Nathan Brough were working hard. Up front Kieran Knight was tireless and the Magdala back four knew they were in a game.

The first opportunity fell to Eastwood with Danny Tring hitting the bar with a header from a corner. Eastwood deservedly took the lead when Kieran was brought down in the box. He himself got up and slotted the penalty in.

Eastwood were looking to hold on until half time, but from a short corner Magdala equalised with a wind assisted shot into the top corner.

HT: Magdala Amateurs 1-1 ECFC Development

At half time Kurt Harrison had to come off because of an ankle injury and replaced by Harry Barnes and worse was to follow five minutes into the 2nd half with Nathan Brough hurting his hamsting and being replaced by “DJ".

This resulted in a shovelling of players and for a time the back four and Randy stood strong as Magdala got a foothold in the game.

Eastwood went ahead when”DJ” flicked on a goal kick which Kieran Knight ran on to and scored with his 2nd attempt… the team celebrations showed how hard this lot of players play for each other.

Magdala tried to press for the equaliser however Tom Coupe broke up an attack and from there played a great pass that Kieran Knight got a hold of from the half way and ran on to score 3-1 Eastwood.

The last 10 minutes Magdala tried hard but the Eastwood defence held strong until the 90th minute when after a great save from Randy, Magdala scored the follow up.

From there FT and a 2-3 win and deserved .

Credit must be given to the whole team for their efforts and to Harry and “DJ” for coming on and doing their bit, a mention for Reece, who although did not get on, many thanks for being available and being there for the team.

Eastwood CFC Devlopment Team:
1 Randy Bonsu
2 Charlie Niblett
3 Tom Coupe
4 Danny Tring
5 Rich Hodgman
6 Callum Clarke
7 Owen Everton
8 Nathan Brough
9 Kieran Knight
10 Kurt Harrison
11 Leyton Nethercot

Subs;
12 Harry Barnes
14 Reece Bancroft
15 Dom Hayes

Man Of The Match: Kieran Knight

Next Match
Saturday 25th August 2018
Eastwood CFC Development vs Gedling Southbank
3pm kick off
PSUSA 3G Arena, Chewton Street, Eastwood, Notts, NG16 3HB