Gwent County League Division Three Sudbrook CC 1 West of St Julians 1

A LATE piece of opportunism by striker Rob Thorn rescued a point after Sudbrook conceded a goal after just 10 seconds.

With their Mill Lane pitch unplayable, Sudbrook booked the Caldicot Leisure Centre 3G pitch for the match but team manager Daryl Cann refused to blame the surface for the early setback.

“We train on the surface so we know how the ball reacts on it. We were caught cold and then, because we were chasing an equaliser for most of the match, we couldn’t relax enough to play our usual game,” he said.

“The lads switched off for a split,” he added.

The visitors surged forward straight from the kick-off, their striker Sam Orphan cutting through the home defence before leaving keeper Richard Aggett with no chance.

From then on the action swung from penalty area to penalty area, both teams becoming more and more frustrated as their efforts came to nothing.

One of the players who suffered most was Thorn who must have gone close to the world record for being ruled offside.

Time after time, he broke clear to collect passes from hard-working midfielders only to hear the dreaded whistle.

But he persisted and with about 20 minutes left, he was on hand to strike the equaliser after the visitors’ keeper could only parry Tom Stuart’s shot from the edge of the area.

“I think the start we had immediately put us on the back foot, to concede a goal so soon massively dented our confidence,” Cann said later.

“I thought we slowly got back into the game and played the better football, creating numerous chances but couldn’t put the ball in the net.

“We pushed for a winner but their keeper pulled off a great save to deny Chris Fortescue from outside the box and then our keeper came to our rescue at the other end with another great save.

“I see it as two points lost rather than one gained,” he added.

On Saturday, Sudbrook entertain Rockfield Rovers who were 2-1 winners at Penygarn and Trevethin last weekend.