League

Julia Belle Swain
Spectators: 7349 (Terracing: 5500, Seating: 1849, VIP seats: 0) Topton's Ronny Handy started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Maurice Freeman fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 14th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Whitney Swift having to interfere. Whitney Swift stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Maurice Freeman's shot from short distance in the 17th minute. In the 21st minute, Leland Rubio fired away a shot on goal. He put a little to much spin on the ball and sent it just wide of the right post. Whitney Swift made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Maurice Freeman in the 32nd minute of play. After a rather tough play, John Hartford FC's Reyes Rivas got a free kick in the 33rd minute. Maurice Freeman received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 36th minute. Whitney Swift tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Travis Cangiano hit a great freekick 44 minutes into the match. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

A collision led to Topton getting a freekick after 51 minutes play. Percy Riker hit a great ball. In the 53rd minute, Leland Rubio ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Gregg Erickson was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-0. Whitney Swift made a fantastic save in the 57th minute, when Maurice Freeman sent off a good shot on target. 63 minutes into the game, Travis Cangiano was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Topton's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave John Hartford FC the free kick. After a rather tough play, Topton's Travis Cangiano got a free kick in the 63rd minute. In the 65thth minute of the game Leland Rubio who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Topton's Gregg Erickson was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Gregg Erickson didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Reyes Rivas went, in the 75th minute, to the upper right corner, 3-0 was the resulting score. John Hartford FC made a substitution. Ryan Forbes replaced Perry Larson. An unexpectedly hard shot by Tod Cronshagen in the 81st minute of play forced Topton's goalkeeper Gregg Erickson to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After a defensive mix-up in Topton's zone, Leland Rubio stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Gregg Erickson came out of the goal and Leland Rubio tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After a defensive mix-up in John Hartford FC's zone, Travis Cangiano stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Whitney Swift came out of the goal and Travis Cangiano tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play.