Abbey Villa faced a strong and hungry Comber Rec at Park Way
The NAFL,
Premier League match,
Venue: Park Way, Comber, 4 4 26,
Final Score: Comber Rec 5 0 Abbey Villa.
From the whistle Comber Rec were like their old selves, attacking early and often. The visitors Abbey Villa did try and make some inroads through the match but the Rec defence was mostly tight containing any threats that emerged.
But it was James Sofley who won the day for Comber putting the game beyond the visitors assisted by scorers Lex Walker and Dylan Donaldson with a well-earned hat-trick
Defender Lex Walker opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he moved forward and received a cross from the right making no mistake.
Then as Comber ramped up the pressure, striker James Sofley scored the first of his hat-trick 9 minutes later when he received a cross from the left and found open space for a casual tap in.
Abbey Villa tried to stage a come back on several occasions but Comber were up on their front foot now.
Mattew Gibson put a neat cross through to Sofley who blasted it at the Villa goal but the ball ricocheted off a defender on 30 minutes. And again Gibson sent over a long deep cross to Walker and Sofley positioned in the Villa box but keeper James Darlington plucked it out of the air.
Walker had a chance when he turned at the back of the box and unleashed aq shot on target but won a corner for his efforts.
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Then Dylan Wilson passed through to Dylan Donaldson and James Sofely waiting in the box but the Villa defenders were on it quickly.
Villa made a push before half-time to try and pull a goal back and stay in the game.
They went into the dressing room at 2-0 at half-time and continued the pressure into the second half. Captain Simon Hanna hit a solid volley on target and Sofley tried to recover the save but keeper Darlington got possession first.
Then after several efforts Comber struck again as Sofley burst through the Villa back line and hit home for his second goal giving Darlington no chance.
Around ten minutes in, the Comber pressure was telling when Villa midfielder Matthew Demster headed back to Darlington who just managed to grab the ball as it headed for the top of the net for an own goal.
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But Sofley was rampant and on 58 minutes he nailed his hat-trick amidst a scramble in front of the Villa goal finding an opening through a forest of Villa legs.
And a minute later it was Dylan Donaldson who had been battling up front, who finally got a goal as he surged forward on a one to one with Darlington and he confidently chipped the ball over his head as Darlington came out to close him off.
Villa never-the-less kept their discipline and battled on against the odds. Louis-Gault-Reid made a fine cross to the box but it was snuffed out by the Comber defence.
Captain Simon Hanna had a chance to make it 6-0 from a free kick when Sofley was taken down outside the box and walker too almost scored again just going over the bar.
On 78 minutes, Darlington injured himself on clearing the ball and Paul Magee had to put on the keeper’s jersey.
Comber kept up the pressure and with 5 minutes to go and Sofley chipped a shot at the Villa goal and was unlucky striking the top bar.
The home side had claimed the points conclusively. Dylan Wilson was more in a position of feeding balls into the box for Sofley and Donaldson and he made a solid contribution to the win.
Overall, Comber will be happy with the win over Villa who on a better day would have giving Comber a tighter game.
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Comber Rec: 1 Corey Pollock (GK) 2 Matthew Gibson 3 Lex Walker 4 Stuart Moore 5 Reece Whittle 6 Dylan Donaldson 7 Dylan Wilson 8 Simon Hanna (C) 9 James Sofley 10 Matthew Tumilson 11 Brandon Nelson. Subs: 12 Elliot Wiulson 14 Kristopher Gaw 15 Sam Moore.
Abbey Villa: 1 James Darlinton (GK) 2 Gregg Fleming 3 n/a 4 Matthew Edwards 5 Matthew Dempster 6 Adam Arthurs (C) 7 Ross Murphy 8 Ryan Convery 10 Ross Arthurs 11 Jake Wilson 12 Daniel McFarland. Subs: 14 Louis Gault-Reid 16 Paul Magee.
