Crane 2 Felixstowe II 1Crane finally put an end to Felixstowe domination of this derby fixture, albeit with the narrowest of victories. Previous encounters have typically been high scoring affairs with early goals, however this game started tightly as both teams sized each other up.

Crane 2 Felixstowe II 1

Crane finally put an end to Felixstowe domination of this derby fixture, albeit with the narrowest of victories.

Previous encounters have typically been high scoring affairs with early goals, however this game started tightly as both teams sized each other up. When the chances did come they were snatched at by both sets of forwards.

It was midway through the second half before a breakthrough came, Felixstowe forward Howard Green applying the finishing touch to a pass that came to him via defenders stick and the post. It was a scrappy goal to concede and in contrast to the visitors previous free flowing attacking play, and now it was up to Crane to respond to the setback.

The response came swiftly. Mark Campbell picked the ball up in midfield and found Bristow with his back to goal down the right hand channel. Bristow cut inside his man and this time found the square pass to supporting strike partner Craig Bloomfield. Bloomfield still had a lot to do as the defenders drove him away from goal, but just as the chance seemed to be getting away he did superbly to send a powerful flick back across the keeper into the top right hand corner of the goal.

By half time Crane felt that with a bit more sharpness they could have been in front and they began the second half strongly, quickly forcing a number of penalty corners. The winning goal came early in the half courtesy of the same trinity of players involved for the first. Campbell's shot from a penalty corner was initially blocked by the keeper, but Bristow followed up with a driven shot only to be denied a goal by virtue of a defenders foot. The umpire signalled a penalty stroke which Bloomfield stepped up and despatched.

That wasn't the end of matters though. With 20 minutes left to play Felixstowe attacked in waves and Crane were pinned into their own half, conceding multiple penalty corners which they somehow managed to keep out despite Felixstowe captain Phil Leney going through the full repertoire of shots and flicks. It was a tremendous defensive performance from keeper Dan Murray and the experienced defence of Andy Hicks, Trevor Bunce and Andy Elden, as well as substitute Revan Jones who broke up the play brilliantly. Crane retain their place at the top of the table and now face a tricky away fixture against University of East Anglia II next week.