City falls to Serbija

Stratford City treated their fans to an exciting game last Thursday, but were unable to defeat Serbija, losing 3-1.

It was the second time City had faced Serbija in five days.

The first half was scoreless and although there were opportunities at both ends, neither team had any clear-cut chances with both defences able to nullify the other side’s attacks.

The second half saw a slight change in the possession percentages with Serbija having the edge.

The first goal came from Serbija after 52 minutes, when they gained control inside the 18-yard box and sent the ball back to Uros Stamatovic, who launched an unstoppable ball from about 20 yards out.

City kept pressing and at 55 minutes, their efforts resulted in Brad Wittig dummying a pass, allowing the ball to get to rookie Ben Balfour. With great accuracy, Balfour passed the ball to another rookie,
Rory Blackler, who took aim from about 22 yards out and put the ball in the top corner to tie the game.

That was all the scoring to be done by City as Serbija came on strong and scored two more goals, at 72 and 81 minutes, to secure their win.

The match was a fan appreciation night and sponsors Colin James, of Sutton Real Estate, and Pet Santini, of RBC Mortgages, gave fans hot dogs and pop.

City play their next game against Banat on Sunday.

PHOTO: Stratford City’s Rory Blackler had his team’s lone goal in their match against Serbija last week. (Mary White)