Back to Henbury and this time
with no rain but quite a bit of wind!
All of the players were available, against a team unbeaten so far this
season. The usual Match Reporter wasn’t
feeling too good, so Andy was forced to take on the duties again.
Game 1 - The line up was:
Joby
Sam James
Luke Ethan
Jim
Josef
Rolling Subs: Jack, Joe &
Max
From the kick off they were
straight on the attack with some very quick passing. Joby was off his line fast enough to panic
the attacker into shooting just wide. A
throw in caused panic in our defence.
Jim tried to get it but missed, and the attacker toe-punted it from a good
fifteen yards and it flew like a bullet into the top of the net 1-0.
They launched another dangerous ball through but James was able to cut
it out. They attacked down their left
and our team went across to get them, leaving a Henbury player unmarked in the
middle. The ball was duly passed into
him, Jim flew across valiantly to try to get to him but he cut inside, and as
Joby came out, calmly passed the ball past him 2-0. A corner came in, James
missed it, Jim swung an air shot at it, and the Henbury player chipped it for
the far corner only to see it go just wide.
They floated another ball in
which Jim heads out and then chases after it, beating players as he went, but
as he neared their area, their ‘keeper was out to get there just ahead of
him. James won the ball in the middle
and put Joe in. He beat one player but
his touch took him too close to the other who duly cleared. From the clearance they were in, however Jack
made a strong challenge and won it back.
They attacked down the left and shot towards goal. James tried to get it but could only deflect
it onto Jack. He wasn’t able to react
fast enough and he deflected it wide of Joby, and as it rolled across the area,
their player had the simple task of passing into an open net 3-0.
James almost had a fantastic header as the ball ricocheted up but he had
no idea where it was and Jack came in to head clear. Luke played a good long ball for Josef to
chase, but he was just beaten to it by the ‘keeper. Joby kicked well over the halfway line, Joe
just missed getting it but his challenge put the defender off, it came to Max
and his shot flashed just wide. Joby’s
kick went to Josef. He found Max who put
in Joe, and Joe finally forced the first save out of their ‘keeper.
HALF-TIME : HENBURY
3 FRYS 0
Jack kicked it long for Joe
but he was tackled for a throw. He won
the ball back from the throw and hit a viciously dipping shot that narrowly
went over the bar. They were then
through again and Joby pulled off a magnificent save. It rebounded around a bit as we blocked a few
more times before they finally shot high and over. They weren’t to be denied for long however
and a high shot beat Joby who dived for it.
It came back down off of the bar but Joby was still getting back up as
their player hit it goalwards. Jack
tried to get his foot to it on the line, but it was it 4-0. Ethan played it wide to
Jim who went down the line and found Joe.
Jim continued his run into the middle and got the ball back from Joe,
but his shot was wide. Sam and Jack made
good headers to clear but then we left Joby against three attackers. He made an excellent save however and Sam
recovered to clear. Joby then made
another great save and Jim came in with a clearance into their attackers head
and out, pole axing him. They attacked
again and shot wide, but the attack was just like they were dissecting us! We were going for the ball, but their quick
passing meant that we were just chasing shadows.
Ethan and Joe combined in an
attack, but they got it back and broke quickly, Jack getting the vital last
touch. A high ball came in from the
resulting corner and Joby could only parry it, the ball dropping behind
him. Luckily, Max was on the line and
cleared it. Another corner came in and
Jim got it. He passed forward to Ethan
who was one on one with Joe further up-field unmarked. He found Joe, but three defenders got back as
well as the ‘keeper out quickly and it looked like the chance was lost. Joe
however had other thoughts and got his foot to it to push it into the back of
the net 4-1. Jim and Max combined well to put Joe in, but
their ‘keeper got there first. Their
‘keeper then kicked it so hard with the wind that it bounced twice and went out
for our goal kick! Joby drop kicked and
it came down on the halfway line. Joe
hit it first time high and it bounced over the ‘keeper, but he recovered well
and stepped back in time to catch it as Ethan followed in.
FULL-TIME : HENBURY 4 FRYS 1
Man of the Match – Chosen by Sharon Kipling for brilliant play and
good work & effort – Jack Yeoman
Game 2 - The line up was:
Jamie
Mark Oscar
Dan Josh
Jordan
Sam K
Rolling Subs: Tom, Callum
& Spike
They won the ball on the right, cut inside and
unleashed an unbelievable thunderbolt which shook the post and flew out
again. They attacked again, but Jamie
was out quick and Josh slid in, combining well to clear for a corner. We cleared but they won it back, running past
our defenders, but Jamie was out really well and put them off enough that the
shot went wide. Jamie hit a massive kick
with the wind and Sam was after
it. He headed it on and chased, with
defenders and the ‘keeper converging, he got his foot to it, wide of the player
on the line and into the back of the net 0-1. We had a corner which Josh chipped in, to
where Sam was running in, but his volley went just wide. A throw came in which we all missed and their
attacker was so close to the goal, he just couldn’t miss 1-1 (Martin’s commentary as Andy had been forced to look away at the
time!) They attacked down the right, but
Oscar was there to clear the danger.
Tom threw to Spike ten yards out. As their defenders rushed him, he cleverly
passed right to Dan who shot, but it was blocked. Dan was fouled on the left and Tom came over
to take it. He looked to shoot but then
saw Callum central and went that way, but the resulting shot went wide. They hit a long ball down the left which was
just kept in by the bye line. Tom
cleared but it was blocked, then Oscar and then
HALF-TIME : HENBURY
2 FRYS 1
The ball came loose and Spike dived in to get his
toe to it. Whilst still on the floor
they blasted it straight at him and he headed it out (although how much of it
he knew, we’ll probably never know). Tom
then won it on the right and curled a lovely ball into the box for Dan but his
shot went just wide. Even their manager
however, who was refereeing, told Tom what a great ball it was, and he was
right. Tom threw it in and it bounced
past two of their players to Sam who hit it on the turn, but it was just
wide. Their attacker sprinted down the
line and Tom chased after him. He then
did what I would describe as a Peter Beardsley sliding tackle. Instead of sliding in and kicking it away, he
slid in and won the ball whilst on the slide.
He then got up and came clear with the ball at his feet. Callum found Josh and he hit it down the line
for Sam. The angle was very oblique
however and his shot went wide. They
broke quickly and their attacker evaded challenges from Callum and Mark, before
calmly beating Jamie with the shot 3-1. Callum won the ball in the middle and found
Spike. He turned, beating two players as
he did and threaded a great pass through to Sam whose shot was pushed wide for
a corner by the ‘keeper.
Tom then won the ball twenty yards out and hit it
hard and low, only for the ‘keeper to get his hands to it again. The corner came in and Sam met it with a
lovely little glancing header, off two of their players but the ref’ missed it
and gave a goal kick. A long kick
forward put their man in on Jamie, but he was out quickly and won the ball
well. Spike and Josh did a one-two to
create space for a shot from Josh, but it went just wide. A massive kick from
Jamie was gambled on by Josh. He rode
two challenges and then passed it past the ‘keeper towards the empty net. Spike
however decided to make sure that it went in and from six inches out blasted it
3-2.
FULL-TIME : HENBURY 3 FRYS 2
Man of the Match –