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This was the third match Freeflow played away to Valence in a friendly, with the first game two years ago ending 5:2 to Valence and last winter 2:1 to Valence. So Freeflow knew what to expect from the opposition which was large physical players, long balls to wide areas, crosses and a twelfth man, the referee.
The game started fairly evenly with Freeflow just edging the early exchanges with some cohesive passing in midfield. However Valence struck first with a fantastic volley from a corner. The corner kick was actually miss-hit to the edge of the box and beautifully volleyed home, 1:0. Freeflow did not drop their heads and continued to pass the ball and always looked like creating a chance.
That chance and equaliser came from Manvir after some neater passing Judge finally got the ball in the last third and Manvir made a run for the through ball. Judge actually delayed the pass and took needless extra touches but finally released Manvir who finished brilliantly first time into the far top corner, 1:1 and half-time.
The second half started in similar fashion as the first, Valence continued to play the long ball to wide areas and then looking for crosses but both Freeflow full backs Nav and Kamel did well to prevent the crossing. Jaspreet and Adam marshaled the defense well in Amandeep's absence with Adam on many occasions dribbling the ball out from the back. Valence though took the lead again after a lack of concentration between goalkeeper Adam and centre back Jaspreet. Both players failed to claim a loose ball and the Valence forward pounced, 2:1.
Freeflow showed resilience though and dominated the game from then on. Jaspreet redeemed his error with a superb volley similar to Valence's opening goal. After a corner was cleared by Valence to the edge of the box, Jaspreet swiveled and volleyed, the goal keeper flapped 2:2. From this point on it was all one way traffic as Freeflow launched attack after attack but either played a poor final ball or finished poorly. Freeflow's superiority seemed to affect Valence as some of their players were clearly loosing their head and appeared temperamental.
The game ended 2:2 with Freefow having a clear penalty turned down, although Freeflow had enough chances to play the killer pass or finish but failed to do so. This should act as a lesson to Freeflow, in future they must be more calm, relaxed and ruthless in the last third of the field.
The Starting Line up: Adam (GK), Jaspreet, Adam, Nav, Kamel, Selim, Taner, Judge, Jag, Hafeez, Manvir.
Subs: Aran, Pawandeep, Faris, Sunil, Toch.
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Jaspreet, one mistake and scored a volley. He was solid and a leader throughout. |
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Adam's first game for Freeflow for over a year as he has been on duty for Middlesborough. Played more like a libero than a bog standard defender. |
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Taner used the ball with intelligence in midfield and was tenacious too. A controlled display, | |
