Andy had gone with some of the Colts to help the Juniors at St Aldhelms, so Maurice took charge, against arguably the best team at this age group in Bristol .

Game 1 - The line up was:

Joe B

Mark     Sam B

Tom     Ethan     Sam K     Max

Rolling Sub: Josh

Sam K threw to Tom whose pass forward was intercepted.  Portishead then attacked but shot wide.  We didn’t heed the warning of the early shot however and, with our team still waking up, Portishead scored 1-0.  Joby then had to be alert to make a good save from another shot!  Portishead then got into our box and Tom cleared for a corner.  Tom won the ball from the corner and attacked up the left but he was stopped. 

Portishead then attacked again and a long range shot was hit high and over Joby’s head into the net 2-0.  Sam K attacked but the ball was cleared for a throw.  Portishead attacked again but they shot wide.  Sam B attacked and was tackled, the loose ball came to Tom and he attacked before being tackled.  Sam K made a good header to clear a dangerous ball and then Sam B was on hand with a good tackle and pass to Max.  He went on a run down the left but was eventually tackled.  Tom threw to Ethan and he passed back to Tom but Portishead were quickly in to clear our attack. 

Mark then had to respond quickly to the attack and he played a great ball to Josh who went on a mazy run but was tackled.  Portishead then hit the side of the net with a rasping shot.  Max tackled well and got his pass to Tom and he inter-changed well with Ethan.  Portishead attacked again and this time Sam K cleared well, before Joby made a great save.  Max was then injured with a stud to the leg and that effectively ended his day.  The tape ended at this point, but before the half was over, Tom took an opportunistic shot which was driven low under the despairing dive of the ‘keeper 2-1, to put the match on a knife edge, and we came more and more into the game!

HALF-TIME: PORTISHEAD  2   FRYS  1

The second half has been lost to history!  From what people have told me, not only did we carry on battling and holding them, but towards the end, we were the stronger team as Portishead tired and had we had an extra ten minutes there was every chance that we could have gotten the equaliser, and more, so dominant were we!

FULL-TIME : PORTISHEAD  2   FRYS  1

Game 2 - The line up was:

Joe B

Josef     Sam K     Oscar

Ethan     Jordan      James

Rolling Subs:  Tom, Sam B & Josh

Within two minutes of the start Portishead had taken the lead 1-0.  Unlike their first team which is skillful, fast and flowing, the second team rely more on brute strength and power, with at least five of their players being taller than anyone in our team!  Shortly after, despite some excellent play from Frys they scored again 2-0.  The ball then bounced around in our area but great defending led to Sam K making a good tackle and getting the ball to Ethan.  He attacked up the line, passing back and forth with Sam, but the big players got back and the attack was stopped.  Jordan then went on a mazy run with the ball but he was also tackled.  James took the throw, but Portishead won the ball and forced a great diving save out of Joby. 

Portishead didn’t stop however and they soon scored again 3-0.  It was almost then four but for another fantastic save from Joby.  Oscar made a great tackle to win the ball but Portishead were too strong physically and won it back.  James then intercepted a pass through and, after a bit of nifty footwork, put in his own great pass which ended with a foul on the edge of the area.  Tom decided to blast it, but it went just wide.  Next we saw some great passing between Josef, Josh and Jordan, but Portishead were soon on the attack and Oscar and James needed to be at their best to stop another goal.

HALF-TIME: PORTISHEAD  3   FRYS  0

Into the second half and we saw some great passing from Sam B to Jordan and then from Tom to Sam B but the attacks were stopped.  Portishead attacked and again Oscar and James were there to stop them.  Sam B then attacked strongly and it was Portishead’s turn to defend.  James then went in for a tackle, lost his feet onto his back but still tried to win the ball from the floor, eventually getting it out to Jordan .  Tom then ran onto a through ball and hit a shot that wasn’t the strongest in the world.  Luckily, a Portishead player tried to block it and only succeeded in deflecting it past his own ‘keeper 3-1.  Tom was more than happy to claim it!  Portishead responded straight from the kick with an attack through the heart of the team and an unstoppable shot 4-1.  Some great passing from James, Josh and Sam B got us to their area but it was cleared and the quick break ended with another goal 5-1.  Almost immediately Portishead got their sixth 6-1.

FULL-TIME : PORTISHEAD  6   FRYS  1

OVERALL RESULT : PORTISHEAD 8   FRYS 2

Afterthoughts………………………………………………………………

A great display of football by Frys in both matches: all of our players giving 100%.  Unfortunately they did not stand a chance against the bigger, stronger team.  On the positive side, those players won’t always be bigger than us and hopefully by that time, our skill will decide things!  Also in the second match a huge thank you to the players who stayed behind to help make up the numbers of a depleted team, as some of our players were helping out the Juniors!  Those players were obviously very tired at the end of two games.