Southend Collegians Reserves finished 2021 with a victory in a pre-Christmas goal bonanza at home to Landwick Firsts.
In what must be one of the most thrilling games of the season so far, Southend Collegians Reserves offered up a feast of goals in a hard-fought win. Landwick struck the first blow, with Collegians equalising shortly after through Kieran Coughlan tapping in Alex Casal’s corner.
Landwick’s second goal came from Collegians’ centre back Massimo Salamini, who has been a key performer in recent weeks, putting the ball into his own net with a misplaced back pass. Fortunately, Collegians kept their heads and equalised just before half time through the skipper, Antony Moule, heading an Alex Casal freekick beyond the Landwick goalkeeper.
It was Landwick who got the next goal through a freekick that deflected off the crossbar onto Joe Cannell’s outreached to go in. As they did twice already, Collegians equalised from another Alex Casal set piece. This time it was Massimo Salamini making up for his earlier error with the vital flick at the near post.
It was Collegians who got the next goal, with striker Michael Moss, who caused the opposition problems all match, slotting the ball home. The lead didn’t last long as Landwick scored from a clever move down the SCFC right flank. To restore the lead, Collegians put together a fantastic counterattack goal when Luke Mallon played a lovely ball down the left flank to striker Michael Moss. Moss then passed across the 6-yard box to Alex Casal who had an easy finish at close range.
The drama continued into the last quarter of the match, with Landwick scoring a somewhat controversial goal. The referee allowed them to take a direct freekick while Collegians were still setting up their wall on the edge of the 18-yard box. Despite the protests, the referee allowed the goal to stand.
With less than 10 minutes to go, Michael Moss gave Collegians the lead through a wonderful solo goal. Like with his first goal, Moss’s direct running and skill on the ball was too much for the opposition. As the game edged closer to full time, there was clear tension amongst the Collegians players. But that tension was lifted when Alex Casal lobbed the goalkeeper with a perfectly weighted shot from 25-yards to secure the three points.
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