3’s lose in Middlesbrough by the finest of margins

On Saturday an inexperienced 3s was desperately unfortunate to lose 2-1 at Marton Furness. The Teessiders, on the other hand, were packed full of older players and it was clear from the outset that we’d have a struggle on our hands. Winger Jacob Ravenhall was off the pitch after five minutes with a bleeding nose after a crunching collision with a Furness defender. Despite being down to ten men, (there were no subs present at the match!) Jesmond had the best chance of the opening minutes when Jack Brannen couldn’t quite guide the ball past the opposition keeper during a scrabble in the D.

However, the experience of the opposition told as a skilful off-the-ball run created space for their striker, who didn’t make a mistake as he guided it past Ben Redpath. JPC had another good opportunity when Brannen’s cheeky effort caught the Furness goalie napping, as it trickled onto the post and wide.

Unfortunately, Jesmond couldn’t hold out for the last ten minutes of the half. A short corner was quickly shifted from one side of the D to the other; a goal-bound shot was blocked by just about everyone but a Furness attacker stole in the tap it past Redpath. Half-time couldn’t come soon enough; JPC were lacking direction. Both goals had been avoidable but we simply hadn’t taken our chances.

Immediately JPC piled pressure on the opposition. The team was paying with new vigour and a half-time formation change saw us gain more of a foothold in the midfield. Amin Turay was tireless at winning the ball back, Brannen continued to run hard at the Furness defence and full-backs George Hampton and Kieran Stables provided useful attacking outlets. JPC won a succession of short corners and it was from one of these that the first chance of the second half came. A ball to Brannen bounced awkwardly, drawing out their keeper; Brannen managed to round him but scuffed his reverse stick sweep. It was however a positive sign for JPC as the pressure continued.

Another short corner led to another opportunity. This time Brannen hit it cleanly; it was, however, blocked on the line by the stomach of a Furness player. After some consultation the referees decided to give another short instead of a penalty flick. More drama ensued as a wonder strike from Brannen straight from the short was smashed straight into the top corner. The effort was disallowed for dangerous play: it had been too high. The signs were crystal clear, though: JPC were pushing for an equaliser.

Finally, the breakthrough came. Yet another short was tapped in by captain Jason Loney after a scramble around the opposition goal. JPC started throwing men forward and the game became more heated. Turay was shown a green card for dissent, Brannen another green for a succession of stick tackles and a Furness player was similarly sent off for a crunching challenge. Tom Melbourne was sent to the floor with a shoulder and the captains had to calm their teams down. Jesmond kept pushing, kept pressuring: a 40-yard sprint from centre-back Will Green caught Furness napping and only an excellent tackle prevented Adam Bolton from getting a shot off. Efforts were flashed narrowly wide, but the last action of the game was at the Jesmond end: a counter was stopped by heroic defending from all of the back four but, as we tried to race away, the whistle blew. Jesmond had dominated large portions of the game but couldn’t quite finish our chances. The mood afterwards was downbeat, but also upbeat: we hadn’t won. But we’d played well. There’s no doubt that as the season goes on these are the kinds of games we’ll start winning. Improvement is inevitable.

By Will Green