Twister Sunday 18th March 2007
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Out
to the Netham for the first time ever.
It was a very windy day, going straight down the pitch, and would make
each half a very interesting affair! Luke & Josef were rested for this game.
Game
1 - The line up was:
Joby
Jack Callum
Josh Joel
Tom
Joe
Rolling Sub: Dan
Josh
won the toss and changed ends, into the very strong wind in the first
half. In the first minute, Jack went in
for a challenge which didn’t look too bad, but he ended limping badly. Turned out he had injured himself Saturday
but thought he was ok to play, but the knock had aggravated the injury and he
had to come off, possibly for the rest of the game! Dan came on to the right, with Josh switching
to the middle and Joel slotting in next to Callum at the back. Callum won the ball in defence and hit it
wide for Josh to chase, and he found Dan.
Dan returned the favour and Josh hit the ball forward for Joe to chase,
but the ‘keeper got there just ahead of him.
They won a free kick just outside the box, so we lined up a wall on the
line. They shot high, and Tom cleared
over with a great header. The FDS
forward ran past two challenges and hit a shot, which hit the outside of the
post.
They
had a corner which Josh won. He ran over
the halfway line and played a great ball in for Joe to hit, however the wind
took the ball well wide. Tom went in for
a tackle and got hurt, staying down, Josh challenged and the ball hit him in
the stomach and he was also toppled, and they took advantage, going wide to
evade a challenge and hitting it in at the near post 1-0. Not long after the
restart, (both of our players did recover) and there midfielder took Tom out
completely, so much so that their Ref’ told their Manager that if he did it
again, he would have to take him off or see him sent off! Fair play to both of them!
We
played the next half with the wind behind us and what a difference it made. Joe had a ball near him but didn’t seem to
want it and was crying. On
investigation, he had been kicked and he too needed to come off, however Jack
had recovered so Dan the Man switched to upfront, with the midfield reverting
to starting positions. The ball came
wide left and Jack battled through two challenges to toe-punt it at goal, but
their ‘keeper just got his foot to it.
Jack played a ball into Joel who turned away from his marker and found
Dan. He got the ball to Josh who went
around a player onto his left, but his shot was wide. We pressurised their goal-kick and Dan hit a
first time bouncing return which their ‘keeper managed to parry for a
corner. Tom took the corner from the
right, and although it curled with the wind, it wasn’t enough and went just
wide of the far post.
We
attacked in numbers with Joel finding Joe for a shot but the ‘keeper saved and
looked to kick quickly on the break. It
came to Tom however and he beat two players and fired into a crowded box,
beating the ‘keeper, but hitting Josh of all people on the line and coming
out! Tom went wide with the ball and
crossed for Josh to stroke it into the corner, only for their ’keeper to jump
across and just get his leg to it.
Callum won the ball in defence and surged forward. Although he was eventually forced out near
their area, it was a great run which saw him beat three players. At last!
After more concerted pressure, Jack hit a ball high into the box from
the left which Joe controlled with
his chest. It dropped, he took a touch
and fired low past the ‘keeper 1-1. The ref’ blew full-time as they kicked off
and told me after that it was time during our attack but wanted the ball to go
neutral before he blew, which gave us those few extra seconds to score, so fair
play again!
Man of the Match – Chosen by Andy for
excellent play and effort – Dan
Game
2 - The line up was:
Jamie
Sam
B Spike
Mark Sam K
Max
Chilly
Rolling Sub: Jim
Sam
won the toss and again elected to play into the wind in the first half. Their real danger player, Jelani, played the
whole game with the ball seemingly stuck to his feet when he had it and caused
us numerous problems so Spike did well early on to get it from him and find
Max. Max played a superb ball through
for Chilly and their last defender had to clear for a corner as he ran in on
goal. A lot of the play early on was in
the middle with a few “with the wind” shot flying at us, but none really at
Jamie in goal.
We
had quite an impressive spell where Max, Chilly and Sam K managed to keep them
penned in, blocking every clearance attempt until about the eighth attempt
finally got through! Jelani then broke
quickly and as Jamie came out, Sam K flew in with the important tackle. Sam & Jelani were at it again soon after
with a cross fired in which Mark cleared on the volley. Jelani went through three of our players and
only Jamie at his feet bravely stopped a certain goal, however the rebound came
to an FDS player, but luckily he hit it wide.
Jelani won it again and battled through three tackles, only to hit it
wide as Jamie came out.
Second
half we had the wind. Sam B launched a
big goal kick which Chilly knocked on for Jim to chase and he battled past a
defender to hit it in. The ‘ref however
spotted a push (which our parents down that end said was pretty blatent) so he
properly disallowed the goal. A poor
goal kick saw Jelani onto it and a shot for the far corner which seemed
destined to be going in, however Jamie flung himself at it and pushed it around
the post. He caught the corner and
launched a huge kick which bounced once, deceiving both of their defenders, and
Chilly on the left edge of the box, hit it on the turn, on the volley, but it
went just wide of the right post.
Jelani
was at it again, going past Spike, then Sam B, however Spike recovered
brilliantly to slide in with a tackle.
Jelani seemed determined to do it and again after beating three players
unleashed a thunderbolt, which rattled the crossbar and flew over. Three minutes to go and a corner wasn’t dealt
with by us, and Jelani finally got what his play more than deserved 1-0.
In the dying seconds we won a corner on the left which Jim swung in, but
no one attacked the ball and it flew across goal just one metre out!
Man of the Match – Chosen by Andy for
excellent play and effort – Jamie