(Photo by Randy Hunt of R & R Photography)
It was a good match between the Central Bulldogs and West Plains Zizzers on Friday. The field was a little wet from some afternoon rain, but that had little effect on the game. The game was back and forth with both teams putting pressure on their opponents’ defense. Despite the work of both teams offensively, the score remained 0-0 at halftime.
The second half started out just like the first half. That changed in the 65th minute. Central played a ball in behind the Zizzer defense to an on-rushing player. A Devon Scott made a good recovery run and was able to block the initial shot. In the ensuing scramble for the ball, Kelsey Garnett fired a shot past Louis jones for a 1-0 lead. The Zizzers never quit. They kept pushing for the tieing goal and came close on a couple of occasions. The best chance of the half was Dylan York’s shot from 25 yards out that went just over the crossbar. As West Plains pushed more players forward, Central would add an insurance goal. This one came in the 79th minute. Jordan Salvato got into the box on the right side and sent a ball past Jones for a 2-0 lead. The Zizzers kept fighting until the final whistle, but couldn’t get on the scoreboard.
The Zizzers did a lot of things right in this game. The offense has looked much better the last two games. Things are coming around. If we can get everybody healthy for a couple of games here at the end, we will be in good shape. The boys are working hard and trying to do what is asked of them. They haven’t let our record get them down. We have told them the whole season that our focus was on how we are playing and not on our record. We are playing pretty well, we just need to put a ball in the net and get that monkey off our back. Then we can relax and let things flow. Keep up the good work boys!
