We Broaden Our Horizons           Sunday 11^th December 2005 ____________________________________________________________________

Andy was on the last day of his holiday, so with Ashton postponed, this would be the last one where he was away.  It didn’t bode too well as we had to help put up the nets when we got there.  Added to that they didn’t have enough players so a lot played twice in games 15 minutes each way, and Paul H had his car broken into!!!  The Captains for the day were changed, Luke taking the armband for the first, and James for the second.

 

Game 1 - The line up was:

 

Joby

 

Callum     Jim

 

Josh     Tom     Luke

 

Max

 

Rolling Subs: Joe

 

Tom attacked quickly from the start, but their eight foot ‘keeper managed to save it.  They had two girls playing who were rather tall…  We attacked well, and Josh had a sight of goal, only to be quickly blocked by four or five of their defenders and the chance was gone.  From a corner, Josh had a shot, but the girl in goal who filled the framework, saved it.  By this time, we had already had six corners, such was our pressure.  A goal-kick came out to Max, he went on a great run and shot 0-1.  We then had a corner, which bounced off the post to where Jim was waiting, and he calmly slotted it into the back of the net 0-2. 

 

Max went on another run, gliding past defenders as though they weren’t there, and getting another goal 0-3.  Josh had a go through their defenders, battling to win the ball, but their ‘keeper got to it.  Callum attacked down the wing and shot, but again the ‘keeper saved.  Callum had been fouled during that run and the play was brought back for Joe to shoot from the free-kick.  Unfortunately it went just wide.  Jim played a lovely ball up the wing to Josh and he put Max through, but his shot was into the side netting.  The same move was repeated except this time Max saw Joe in space, passed him the ball, and the result was as expected 0-4. 

 

HALF-TIME : BROADWALK 0     FRYS   4

 

By this time, Joby was getting frostbite.  Our players combined well in attack with it eventually finding Joe who calmly slotted the ball through the ‘keeper’s legs 0-5.  We attacked again, and after the ball had bounced around a bit it came to Tom, and he duly dispatched it 0-6.  Tom was fouled just outside the box.  Joe took it, but the ‘keeper made the save.  Joe then found himself with acres of space, a ball at his feet and a goal in front of him 0-7.  Tom and Josh both then had good shots, but their ‘keeper made some excellent saves.  The ball was then crossed well into the middle, where Max was waiting to hit it home 0-8.  Joe then went on a lovely run down the wing, had a shot, and watched it fly into the back of the net 0-9. 

 

FULL-TIME : BROADWALK 0     FRYS   9

 

 

Game 2 - The line up was:

 

Jamie

 

Oscar     James

 

Spike     Jack     Sam B

 

Jordan

 

Rolling Sub: Ethan

 

Broadwalk came out a lot stronger for the second game and a lot more was in our half, although the two big girls played again.  We still had attacks with both Jack and Spike getting shots in.  Spike got the ball well, passed forward to Sam, and his shot found the back of the net 0-1.    Spike, Sam and Ethan combined well for Sam to hit the post with his shot.  We had a corner.  Jordan, James and Sam all had shots, but the ball just wouldn’t go in. 

 

HALF-TIME : BROADWALK 0     FRYS   1

 

“A bit sloppy defending and they’ve scored”.  The match reporter wasn’t impressed 1-1.  From a goal kick, Jordan got on the ball, went on a great run and shot, but the ‘keeper made the save.  We didn’t learn from our earlier lesson however and for the first time this season, they scored two in a game 2-1.  Ethan played a great ball through to Jordan, who steadied himself and then buried the ball in the back of the net 2-2.  Ethan then went on a run down the wing but the ‘keeper pushed his cross behind.  Oscar defended well, got the ball to Jack who used his size to go through their team, but his shot was just wide.  Jordan then did the same (ran through their team) but his shot was straight at the ‘keeper.  We had a free kick which Jamie took.  It came to Sam, but he just missed with his touch. 

 

We had a period of concerted pressure and the ball finally fell to Jamie, bearing down on goal and he made no mistake 2-3.  They weren’t out of this game however and Ethan made an excellent save to keep us ahead.  Jordan finished a lovely passage of play by Frys with a ball through to Sam, but his shot went just over.  He was fouled as it was happening however and the referee gave us a penalty.  After much milling about, it was given to James to take.  He struck it well, but it hit the post and came back.  He followed up and scored.  The referee gave the goal (more to follow) 2-4.

 

FULL-TIME : BROADWALK 2     FRYS   4

 

 

OVERALL RESULT : BROADWALK 2     FRYS   13

 

After the game had finished the referee came across and said that James’ goal couldn’t count as he had hit it twice so it was 2-3.  The Law states that no restart can be kicked twice in a row by the same player, be it kick off, free-kick or throw in.  It must be touched by another player before the first person can touch it again.  This also applies to penalties, which are basically direct free-kicks from within the area.  James kicked it, it hit the post and he hit it again, no other player touched it.  Had the ‘keeper saved it, or another player followed up and passed it back to James, then he could have legitimately scored.  However, the referee did not find this out until after the game had finished.  After James had scored, the ref’ restarted the game.  Once that had happened, the goal had been accepted and he couldn’t change his mind.  Therefore the goal did count, 2-4, well done James!

 

Afterthoughts…………………………………………………………

I have heard mixed reviews about this game.  As always it was nice to win and the Yellow team did that efficiently.  However the second game was different.  Players weren’t holding positions, they weren’t passing, and very few were defending.  They all thought easy win and forgot about playing football.  This won’t happen again.  Regardless of the result, players will hold their discipline and their positions.  Those who go wandering will swiftly find themselves off for a spell as sub!

 

As this game finished, I was just heading into the Everglades for an Alligator Safari…

 

Hope you all have a brilliant Christmas and an even better New Year.  Well done to all of the players in the team.  They have all shown a massive improvement again this year.  Keep it up!