Escape To Victory Sunday 4th March 2007
____________________________________________________________________
We
arrived to find some extremely boggy conditions, however the choice had been
left to us and was to be made from a purely safety aspect. Phil and I walked the pitch for about 20
minutes, and then he went into a committee huddle, the outcome being that the
game would go ahead, but we would bring one goal-net in three yards as we felt
that the goal area was unsafe. Therefore
20 minutes late, the game finally kicked off.
Luke and Josef were rested, so the line up was:
Game
1 - The line up was:
Joby
Jack Callum
Josh Joel
Tom
Joe
Rolling Sub: Dan
After some defending,
Joel played the ball out to Josh who hit a great ball for Joe to run onto, but Jason
Skinner in goal got there first. Callum
then defended well, got the ball to Josh who again found Joe, but his
cross/shot was again saved by Jason.
Joel won the ball in defence with a great tackle and got the ball to
Tom. He evaded two challenges and found
Joe, still 20 yards out. Joe hit it low and hard, and it skidded
quickly on the surface and flew past Jason 0-1. They then pressurised us and a corner was
headed goal-wards by Patrick Delaney, but Jack headed off the line for another
corner. This corner was also knocked
goal-wards but Callum cleared off of the line.
We then attacked, winning a corner which Joe floated in and Tom glanced
towards the far corner, but it was just wide.
Some great play saw Joel get the ball down the line to Joe, who attacked
to the by-line. From the cross, first
Joel shot, then Josh then Tom, but all were blocked and eventually
cleared. We then saw some defending
which at best could be described at not great.
The ball came into the area and Callum tried to clear but with the mud
and rain he missed it. Then Jack tried
but just got the faintest of touches. Patrick then got a touch to it, not
very hard, but enough to take it past the advancing Joby, and into the net at
almost a trickle 1-1. They upped the pressure and another low shot
was well held by Joby in the treacherous conditions. Half time arrived and the parents created a
mass shield for the players to shelter in with their umbrellas, it really was that
bad!
We
had the wind behind us and Joe’s shot was deflected for a corner. Joe took it and as it curled in, Jack Dancey
misjudged the flight of the ball and headed it into the far corner of his own
goal. Joe with the last touch claimed the goal 1-2. Tom then ran through
two challenges and unleashed a low shot which Jason held onto well. Joe had a high shot which Jason Parried. It came to Josh facing the wrong way, so he
turned and shot, but someone was on the line to clear it.
Man of the Match – Chosen by Andy for excellent play
and effort – Tom
Game
2 - The line up was:
Jamie
Sam
B Mark
Jim Sam K
Max
Chilly
Rolling Sub: Spike
From the kick off, Jim
won the ball and played it down the right wing for Chilly to chase. He got there and crossed, but it hit a
defender running back towards his own goal and went in for the second O.G. of
the game. Chilly with the last touch claimed it 0-1. Again some poor
defending, this time from the ‘B’ team saw the ball out wide to Jack Bailey, and his rasping shot beat
Jamie at the near post 1-1. A dodgy free-kick from Sam K getting in front
of Ben Watt, saw the ball wide right to Jack Bailey, and his shot went high and
over off of the crossbar. Jack Bailey
again shot and this time it hit the outside of the stansion and went wide. Jamie assured me that he had it
covered!!! They attacked again down the
right and the cross got stuck in the muddy water, sending our players off
balance and thanks to the quick reactions of James Moore we went 2-1. Their heads were high at this point and
another ball into our area wasn’t cleared properly and Jack Bailey got his second 3-1. In the space of just four minutes we have
gone from 1-3 up overall to 4-3 down!
Andy then had a few words with Lloyd refereeing the game regarding some
pushing and got barracked from the opposition line, but hey, it’s a laugh! Sam B then decided as last man to try to beat
Ben Watt. He lost the ball, but the
cross came to nothing. In response to
criticism from Andy over the incident, Sam flew across to the right side and
slid in on Ben, sending him flying with a strong tackle, with Sam emerging with
the ball.
Max played in Chilly,
forcing a corner, then from Sam K’s resulting corner, we all ducked! From our defending we surged forward, Chilly
finding Spike, and his shot hit the post and came out. Chilly then passed the ball to Sam K. He played it forward to Spike and ran inside
to where Spike delivered the perfect return pass, but his shot was well saved
by the ‘keeper for a corner. From the
corner, Sam K passed it short to Chilly who returned it, and from the by-line,
Sam passed it in to where Max was
half a yard out, unable to miss 3-2. From their drop kick, Max had a shot, Chilly
dummied it, but it rolled just wide.
Spike broke up their attack and found Max. Max passed to Chilly who saw Spike now down
the left and passed it to him. He played
it inside to Chilly who shot, the ‘keeper fumbled it wide where Sam K shot, but
it was into the side netting. From a
free kick they were through and we thought it could be it, but Spike flew in
from nowhere with a wonderful sliding tackle and Jim completed the clearance.
Man of the Match – Chosen by Andy for excellent play
and effort – The Whole Team