Joseph gives Rebels cause to celebrate!
Late afternoon rains had threatened the match going ahead and the muddy conditions did little to enhance the quality of what turned out to be an exciting and successful debut in competitive football for the newly formed Rebels.
It was of little surprise to the small crowd that the first half ended in stalemate despite some half chances at both ends. Joel Williams got an early opportunity to open the scoring for the Rebels but his effort inside the first five minutes was well wide.
On ten minutes the Revels got their first corner, but it was well cleared by One Love and the resultant quick break saw Gavin Watson fire his shot off target after good work from Akile Campbell.
One Love were beginning to boss the game with Odain Reid and Richard Morgan both guilty of wasted efforts. Antonie Russell also put the Rebels defense under pressure, but his attempt on goal was well blocked by Danny Joseph.
The Rebels did end the first half with a warning that they were no push over’s as Brian Smith nearly made them pay following a foul by Morgan, but in truth neither goalkeeper had been tested.
The second half burst into life with Rebels’ Michael Facey racing almost the entire length of the pitch before losing control under pressure from Gary Hall in the One Love goal. The attack had begun way back in the Revels half after a Morgan free kick had rebounded off the wall into Facey’s path.
Unperturbed by an unusual lack of dead ball accuracy, Morgan was soon given a chance to atone for his previous inaccuracy with another free kick in the 51st minute. This time he was 20 yards out, but once again he was unable to beat the wall, although this time the rebound fell to Reid on the edge of the box and he was able to slide his shot home inside the far post to open the scoring.
The Rebels now facing elimination from the competition poured on the pressure, but were thankful to Mervyn Francis in goal to keep them in the game. A good run from David Grant saw him evade two tackles and cut the ball inside and into the path of Karl Stuart whose first time effort was well saved by the diving Francis.
Then as the game entered the last five minutes, One Love failed to deal with a cross and Stuart missed his attempted clearance only to see the ball bounce up and hit his hand giving the Referee, Eldon Williams, no choice but to point to the penalty spot.
Up stepped Joseph and although Hall guessed correctly the ball just beat his outstretched arm and found the back of the net for the equalizer.
Extra time began with the Rebels maintaining the momentum and they grabbed the lead again through the cool foot of Joseph.
Having won a corner Facey’s first attempt was cleared by One Love for another corner. This time Facey’s cross was right into the danger area and although One Love half cleared the ball it fell invitingly to Joseph on the edge of the box and he made no mistake with a low swerving effort that gave Hall no chance.
I t was Facey’s last contribution as shortly afterwards he received his marching orders for a handball offense.
The Rebels then came under intense pressure for the rest of the first half of extra time with Francis making save after save. First from Morgan, then from Stuart and finally from Reid.
The second period began in much the same way with One Love piling forward, but the defense and Francis stood firm.
Morgan still had trouble putting a finish to good build up play, Grant went close, Reid went closer and whenever called upon Francis was there with save hands to ensure the Rebels began life with a significant scalp and a second round match up with the Islanders.
“A great win, the team played well and now we have to turn our focus to the Islanders” said Rebels manager Lenon Audain “Even when we were 1-0 down, I had had confidence in my team. I knew we would be able to bounce back and win.”
Danny Joseph whose two goals proved the difference on the night commented “the second goal , proved to be the winner so gave me great satisfaction. I was about 20 yards out and hit it well giving their keeper no chance”. Joseph also conceded the Rebels have some work to do “we had motivation to win tonight and although we still have a few things to sort out this win puts some more building blocks in place and we are looking forward to the next game.”
“We had all the possession” lamented One Loves Manager, Marc Savage “It’s a very rough loss, we played at 100 per cent, but just weren’t able to finish.”
Savage was at least happy with his new players and they way they bedded themselves in to the team. “We are planning for the National League and this is just a blip on what we are really aiming for.”
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