Crane 3 Felixstowe 3

Division 4NE

Crane 3 Felixstowe 3

In identical fashion to last season Crane kicked off their league campaign with a home draw.

The match started at a quick pace and only got faster as the game progressed, both sides trading blows.

Felixstowe had the better of the first half, racing into a 2-0 lead courtesy of a neat penalty corner strike from Phil Linley and a poachers goal from Will Hardcastle, latching on to Linleys cross-shot.

Felixstowe didn't have many clear cut opportunities as Keiron Bromley and Trevor Bunce kept the visitors at bay, but were clinical when the chances came.

Crane on the other hand were playing on the break and, despite winning several penalty corners and being denied a clear cut flick, were unable to respond.

Crane knew that a goal before half time was vital to their hopes and it duly came when Aiden Bloomfield applied a neat finish to a penalty corner orchestrated by Bunce.

The second half continued much as the first and as Felixstowe pressed, leaving themselves open to the counter, the ball duly broke to Crane skipper Andy Bristow who sprinted into the space left at the back before exchanging a neat one-two with Andel Williams past the keeper to tap into the open goal.

With the equaliser conceded Felixstowe drove forward and gained their chance to go ahead again when Crane keeper Dan Murray badly fouled the attacker as the cross came in.

Reprieve was granted when Murray easily saved the resulting penalty stroke from Linley.

Felixstowe did regain their lead shortly afterwards though, Hardcastle again capitalising on a defensive error.

It looked as if the game would get away from Crane as Bristow wasted two glorious opportunities to draw level after good work from Andy Elden and Craig Bloomfield.

However it was Elden who played in Bristow once again and this time he made no mistake, beating the keeper before flicking high into the empty net to level the scores.

The remaining ten minutes were end-to-end action, either side capable of taking the points and it was only some desperate last minute tackling from Revan Jones and Bunce that kept the scores level until the final whistle.

Man of the Match: Aiden Bloomfield.