Herts 1961 SFL Intermediate Cup - Phoenix Reserves 0-3 Kimpton Rovers
Team Manager Darren Riseley’s ethos for the season has been to “fear no-one” and it was a marker of how well this is now instilled in the players as they demolished their cup opponents from two divisions higher on Sunday.
Having beaten the clubs third side Phoenix A just a couple of weeks ago, Rovers were looking at tougher test in the Intermediate Cup heading south to London Colney. The visitors however, started brightly and had the majority of the possession in the opening fifteen minutes. It was this pressure that led to the opening goal, just three minutes later, when Dlawar Rekar latched onto a poor clearance from the home keeper and smashed the ball home into the unattended net. Expecting a reaction to going behind from their hosts, it was the exact opposite as Kimpton continued to press creating chance after chance. On thirty-eight minutes, Rovers were awarded a free-kick eight yards outside the box, Thomas Bundy stepped up and lashed home an unstoppable strike into the top right hand corner of the net sending the villagers into dreamland, but very mindful that there was still a long way to go. Before the break there was cause for even more celebration when, with just a minute of the half left, Rekar doubled his tally for the day sweeping past several defenders and lifting the ball over the onrushing keeper for an against the odds lead going into half time.
After the break the game became more even with Phoenix creating some chance of their own, but just like in the last few weeks the Rovers defence has seemed impermeable for long periods of time and on the odd occasion it has been breached keeper Arran Jones has been there to thwart any threat, one stunning save of note coming in the first half when he finger tipped a goal bound shot around the post with Rovers just the single goal ahead. Despite chances at both ends the second period remained goalless, the home side coming closest to scoring in the dying minutes when a speculative shot from the left bounced on top of the crossbar, so victory belonged to Kimpton, making it four wins from four for the season so far.
Lee Fisher played his first minutes of the season returning from a broken wrist sustained in pre-season and the Meyer Office Solutions Player of the Match was given to two goal hero Rekar. It’s back to league action next week when Rovers travel to table toppers Little Heath Reserves looking to maintain their 100% start to life in the new league.
