Wanderers Prevail After Tough Battle

Mulbarton returned back to Mulberry Park after 3 games away and welcomed Long Stratton for an Anglian Combination local derby

Mulbarton started the game at a high intensity looking to get at Long Stratton at every opportunity. With Thompson, Smith and Palmer linking up well. This intensity lead to a string of corners and some near misses, with Altay heading just over and Smith nearly forcing a back heel in after a Sutcliffe flick on.

The hard working Stratton side made sure Mulbarton stayed honest in their work by pressing and closing down well. This allowed them to grow into the half with the pace of Page an outlet. This hard work from Stratton coupled with Mulbarton’s quality and levels dropping meant Stratton finished the half stronger.

After some tweaking at half time Mulbarton started the half with renewed vigour and played with a sustained intensity. Mulbarton were moving the ball quicker and getting Durrant and Palmer in position to affect the game. Leading to Durrant releasing Thompson down the right hand side, the Mulbarton number 9 drove towards the Stratton area, once inside the penalty area Thompson took a bump from the centre back and went down. Initially the referee gave a foul and went to consult the assistant about the location of the foul. This consultation led to the referee changing his mind and awarding the free kick and booking Thompson for a dive; to his disbelief.

Mulbarton stayed patient and looked to bring the ever green and willing Thompson into play. This was evident when the home side broke the deadlock through Thompson. Mulbarton broke away after a nice back heel from Farrow (replaced Palmer on 65mins) released Self who in turn slide Thompson through, he avoided a tackle before calmly slotting the ball in the bottom left hand corner.

As often happens this lifted the home side and drew Long Stratton out a bit more, creating more space for Smith and Thompson.

Smith combined with Durrant and Thompson to get free down the left hand side. Smith cut in avoiding a tackle and fired the ball into the far corner to double the lead.

Stratton stuck at it and kept trying to get the ball into the Mulbarton area but the home sides defence held strong.

A slight sour note was the straight red for Josh Farrow for a clumsy coming together after the referee had awarded a foul. A straight red surprised the home supporters who felt a yellow was sufficient for something clumsy more than malicious.

Mulbarton saw out the remaining minutes to pick up a well-earned 3 points.

MOTM - Ben Thompson