Red: Daniel, Ahmet, Jim, Keith, Rich, Tufan
Yellow: Oz, JP, Martin, Richard, Matt, Julius
What a turnout! 6-a-side. And we found a reasonably firm patch of ground though it did turn out to be a bit sticky. Better than slurry though. For the second time in a fortnight, someone injured themselves in the warm-up, this week Jim. However, he bravely opted to stay on goal for the game.
A good counter-attacking style from both sides, frequently leaving defences exposed. Red scored first after some quick pass and run stuff between Daniel and Ahmet with Daniel collecting and firing in across the goal. Yellow weren’t far behind though and promptly went 4-2 up. Sadly Keith then pulled up with a strain and couldn’t play on so Julius swapped sides to even things up. He’d been good for Yellow and was just as effective for Red as they fought back to 5-5 at half time, combining with Rich down the right wing and Tufan up front. It got a bit one sided after the break. Red cruised to a 10-5 lead, using the extra man mercilessly. Oz felt a twinge but managed to play on. Jim then volunteered to go in goal for Yellow for the last ten minutes so they had the extra man…and they promptly got two quick goals. Did they have it in them to turn it around? No. Red popped in a couple more to finish them off.
The changing of players at various intervals (which couldn’t be helped) seemed to take a bit of out momentum out of the game. JP, Matt and Martin struggled to capitalise from their numerous attacks, thwarted by some poor finishing but mostly because Jim pulled off an amazing number of saves. Richard should have been quaking in his boots, his award in jeopardy perhaps? Nope – he was up the other end doing exactly the same. I also saw something never seen before on the Rye – JP sprinting back as fast as his legs could carry him to make up for an absent defence! He got there just in time too to thwart the three man Red attack closing down on the Yellow goal. Sterling work.
A hatrick for Daniel and at least the same for Julius and Tufan. I don’t always put a man of the match in the report so this week, I’m putting in three. Jim and Richard for their efforts in goal – a masterclass at both ends, and Julius – undeniably ruthless for both teams.
Final score: Red 12 – 7 Yellow