Eaton Socon 1, London Colney 0

21st September 2024 :: Spartan South Midlands Division One

EATON RIFLE TO THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE TABLE AFTER AN ARMIGER WINNER IS ENOUGH TO SECURE THEIR SIXTH WIN IN A ROW
Eaton Socon climbed to the summit of the Spartan South Midlands Football League Division One with an accomplished performance against bottom of the league London Colney.

Despite another scoreline of 1-0, Eaton dominated from the off but found the Colney keeper in fantastic form to almost single handily keep the entire Eaton squad out.

Early on, Eaton frontman Jake Williams found the Colney keeper in top form when a Hayden Armiger cross was fired goalwards from six yards, only to be saved well by the keeper.

London Colney did keep Eaton’s keeper Shay Griffiths alert with his own comfortable save on fourteen minutes and Jakob Buckle also dealt with a dangerous free-kick to clear his lines, as Colney briefly threatened.

A corner from Dom Mason on twenty-eight minutes was headed by Williams towards the top corner but his effort was once again, cleared away by the Colney keeper. Jim Burnside then fired wide shortly afterwards on thirty minutes, when out on the right. Centre half Buckle then tried his own luck on thirty-two minutes firing low and hard from thirty yards out but again, the Colney keeper held on well.

Another sharp interchange from Eaton’s midfield resulted in Armiger sprinting clear, with the centre half from Colney taking him out just outside the box. Amazingly, the referee deemed it only a yellow card. Mason went on to fire the free-kick goalwards only to see his shot pushed round the post. From the resulting corner, Billy Roberts rose above everyone to power his header towards goal but Colney’s very own Spider-Man pulled off another incredible save.
0-0 at half-time with Eaton being kept at bay by some agile goalkeeping.

Eaton continued the second half where they left off, with Burnside running onto an Armiger flick but unable to finish. Another good run on the right from Armiger, who put a cross in for Mark Ansell-Carter but he couldn’t quite reach the ball to finish.
With Eaton now dominating the ball, London Colney were giving away numerous free-kicks in dangerous areas. A Stanley Ayre free-kick on fifty-three minutes was again met by Burnside at the far post but his header went narrowly wide. Armiger, on his full return from injury, was causing all sorts of problems for Colney and when another great ball sent Burnside through again, his effort came crashing back off the post, with the keeper beaten. Armiger then sent Williams clear wide on the left on sixty minutes, squaring to Burnside to fire goalwards only to see the centre half clear off the line.

Colney were frustrating Eaton and on sixty-five minutes they got their only real chance to shock Eaton when their striker burst through but Griffiths was there to produce a big save of his own to keep the scoreline level. A big let off for Eaton.
Eaton then went straight up the other end with arguably the move of the match, with James Ducket, Ayre and Mason all working the ball well to allow Williams to deliver to Armiger who fired home, for a well deserved Eaton lead. Colney then made Eaton’s task easier when their centre half received a second yellow card on seventy minutes reducing them to ten men, allowing Eaton to bring on fresh legs with Jaiden Fitzpatrick, Stanley Dawkes, Asher Banton and Gabriel Ryan all coming on.

Another Williams header destined for the top corner was again somehow kept out by the Player of the Match, the Colney keeper, who tipped it onto the bar, with Dawkes firing on target late on as Eaton’s run of league wins hit six on the bounce. A win that should have been by a far bigger margin with both Williams and Burnside left wondering how neither scored but it was Armiger’s winner that was enough in the end, to send the eagles flying to the top of the league table.

A good midfield display once again from Ansell-Carter but Eaton’s Player of the Match this week goes to Hayden Armiger, for his great comeback performance from injury.

Goal: Armiger
Player of the Match: Hayden Armiger