Yellow: Tufan, Kevin, Jeremy, Colin, Paul
Red: Matt, JP, Daniel, Richard P, Oz
5-a-side. Warm and sunny.
Two weeks away had JP champing at the bit. He made it count too with after a quick one-two and a dribble down the wing in the first few minutes and shooting in at a tight angle.
They seemed to be in control too, limiting Yellow in the final third. However they couldn’t increase the advantage as their final ball was rather poor. An example was Daniel trying to cut the ball down the pitch which would have put Richard P free on goal. But he cut it too flat and Tufan intercepted, took a short dribble and shot low. 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The rest of the half was close. Red just couldn’t sort that final ball but were resolute in their defending. No change to the score at the break and the only other event of note being Paul (on his first game since July 3rd) succumbing to his dodgy knee after 10 minutes and taking on the keeping role for the rest of the game.
The second half was much more interesting. Yellow took the lead but I can’t recall who scored. Red replied very shortly afterwards. JP released Daniel down the right who took a touch and shot. Sadly straight at Paul in goal who saved but the ball bounced up for Kevin to sidefoot calmly into his own net. 2-2. Retribution was quick though. Richard P accidently handballed in the area and owned up very honourably. Tufan shot hard and high, Oz dived and got a touch but not enough, 3-2 to Yellow. A couple more goals took it to 5-3 and then Red became frustrated and decided to attack. All of them. Which left Daniel in goal. Invariably Yellow intercepted that poor final ball and Daniel picked out the ball from his net three times in two minutes, two for Tufan (who was the Yellow kingpin in attack), one for Kevin. 8-4. Disastrous tactics. They didn’t recover. JP screamed with frustration upon his final blocked shot before going into goal. Matt (on his first appearance since March 27th due to cricketing commitments) shouted at anyone in frustration and Daniel niggled Jeremy and dispossessed him with the clocking ticking down but his frustration clouded his judgment and he lunged to shoot but ended in a tangled heap betwixt Paul, Kevin and Jeremy. My apologies. The only highlight for Red was the support. Richard P’s family gave a cheer once or twice in the seond half and a cross/corner from the right reaced Oz in the last few minutes. He volloyed low and hard into the net and got a cheer from some passing walkers.
Final score: Yellow 10 – 7 Red
Oz paid £8 pairs of two crap pairs of gloves. Jeremy paid £15 for one pair of very good ones. Is this an excessive use of clubs funds without consultation? Doesn’t it leave one side with a distinct advantage? Discuss.
Daniel bought a new clock. £10.99