Jamie Subat was again looking likely to score when he showed plenty of strength and forced his way into a good position in the 7th min. Subat's great work was match by a determined and experienced Edgeworth defence, who all got behind the ball and blocked the shot on goal.
Today was also Rob Macbeth 23rd birthday and he almost had a goal to celebrate the occasion when he had a great chance on goal only 2 minutes later but it wasn't to be and Edgeworth avoided the sword and scores remained at 0-0.
Edgeworth also had chances but nothing that really troubled Bears keeper Tim Pratt and although the Bears had the better of the opening quarter of the match, it had now levelled out with both sides playing a fast and physical style of football.
The next major chance of the half again fell to the Bears via a Jamie Subat's crossed ball to Mick Ryan in the 33rd min. Ryan did well to get his head on the ball but he was unable to control the header and the attempt sailed just over the crossbar.
Mick Ryan was at it again in the 52nd min when he shrugged off 3 defenders on the left and then fired off a bullet of a shot that smashed into the crossbar and rebounded to safety.
Nathan Morris has scored some of the best goals witnessed for the Bears over the past 7 seasons and in 65th min he almost scored a goal that would also be remembered, but unlike the other goals this would have been remembered as the best shank ever seen. Morris gained the ball wide on the right and still about 25mts out from goal when his attempted cross took a bobble just prior to being delivered. As a result Morris didn't hit it as planned and the ball looped toward the top left corner of the Edgeworth goal which forced a brilliant scrambling save from the keeper.
Edgeworth could have made the Bears rue their earlier missed chances when they had a great chance from a counter attack in the 70th min. The attack stretched the Bears defence wide on the right and looked certain to score only to push their shot wide.
Jamie Subat was getting plenty of attention from the Edgeworth defence and in the 78th min he was again being swarmed upon and shut down when he looked to be on goal. Subat kept fighting and fired a shot away into the congested Edgeworth box. The shot was blocked and rebounded back to Subat who took a touch and attempted to place another shot on goal only to be blocked again by the head of an Edgeworth defender who's attempted header clearance fell into a group of defenders, who then made sure of the clearance.
The clearance created a counter attack for Edgeworth which lead to a chance on goal that Nathan Morris did extremely well to snuff out and drill the ball out for a corner. The corner fell to an Edgeworth attacker who smashed the ball towards the Bears goal but luckily for the Bears the shot was just wide of the mark.
Edgeworth were playing the long ball trying to catch the Bears defence out of position but it was the Bears who almost beat them at their own game in the 81st min when Mick Holt played a great long ball to Jamie Subat. Subat controlled the ball and beat his marker before firing a shot that forced the keeper to make a great reflex save and parry the ball out for a corner. The Nathan Morris corner forced another great save from the keeper when he again had to push the ball over the bar and out for another corner.
Rob Macbeth was on the attack when he was fouled approximately 35mts out from goal. Nathan Morris stepped up and hammered the free kick towards the left hand side of the goal and past the keeper to give the Bears a 1-0 lead with only 7 minutes remaining.
With the full time whistle not far away Edgeworth threw everything they had at attacking the Bears defence and at times they looked certain to score. The Bears defence showed plenty of character to defend 4 consecutive corners along with more than a few shots on goal. Including one that hit the post and rebounded straight to the feet of the Edgeworth attack, but Tim Pratt stood tall and spread himself to smother the return shot. With so much at stake along with Edgeworth's history of scoring last minute goals, the final few minutes felt like an eternity for the travelling Bears supporters. It was no surprise that the referee's final whistle bought the loudest cheer of the day.
The U/23's horror run down the ladder continued, conceding their 4th loss on the trot 1-2. Mathew Jurd was given a yellow card in the first half when his challenge in the box was ruled a foul, a penalty was awarded and converted. The side were down to 10 men not long after the start of the 2nd half when Jurd was handed his 2nd yellow for the match and sent for an early shower. Kurt Tunnicliffe made the score look more respectable by finding the net for the Bears but they were unable to level the scores.
U/18's were unable to break down the Edgeworth defence and suffered a 0-2 loss.
Next Sunday the Bears are back at Thomas and Coffey Park taking on Valentine Phoenix. The Bears will not only be looking to continue their winning run to 5 games and keep their lead at the top of the table but they will also have added motivation to make amends for the last time they took on Phoenix, as they dominated the first 30 mins and played some fantastic Football creating enough chances to win 5 games only to throw it away in the remaining 60 mins and lose the match 2-3.
Gates open at 9:45am
C'MON YOU BEARS!!!!!!!
