Sonning 1st XI 1 - 1 Milton Keynes 2nd XI

On a wet and windy Saturday afternoon at The Doom Bar Arena, Sonning 1st XI hosted a high flying Milton Keynes side who sat 5 points clear at the top of MBBO Prem 2. With Chris Hinton and Neil Pursell welcomed back into the fold, and with Matt Sloper missing through illness, they had a stronger than usual XI on the field.

As on the return fixture in Milton Keynes before Christmas, Sonning came absolutely flying out the traps and MK simply couldn’t cope with the pace of their play and high press. Jonathan Sharp bagged himself a neat goal after around 5 minutes played, finishing off a passing move started by the mercurial Sam Terry on the right wing.

Alasdair Allan was called into action a couple of times in the following few minutes, making one particularly good save with his left hand after a drag flick effort looked momentarily to have him beaten.

For the remainder of the half however, Sonning were well on top, winning four short corners to MKs two, and holding the lion’s share of possession. They failed to make any chances stick though, with several Sharp drag-flick efforts repelled by either the post-man or goalkeeper, and James Lockhart’s rebound effort padded away to safety. 1-0 at the break.

In the second half, MK found their footing in the game well. They got an equaliser after some horrible marking by Sam Terry left a free man at the back post for the simplest of tap-ins. Alasdair Allan could do nothing in goal, and was absolutely livid with his defender.

Nevertheless, Sonning looked the more likely side to bag a winner, with Neil Pursell (a revelation at left back) starting wave after wave of attack through David Painter and Adam Pusey and the home side winning themselves several short corners. As in the first half however, MK’s young keeper made several good saves, and on the occasions when he was beaten his defenders bailed him out, and the chances went unconverted.

Sonning would in all honesty probably have taken a draw before the game started, but after 70 minutes, this felt like 2 points dropped rather than a point won. Nevertheless, they will need to rally once again looking for a bit of revenge on their away trip to West Hampstead, who bested them in the reverse fixture. #COTN

Goalscorer: Jonathan Sharp
MOTM: Sam Terry
DOTD: Paul Brown