Men's 1st Team Vs Oswestry

It was not totally unexpected that Yardley would return  empty handed from a visit to the current league leaders in the Warwick printing Hockey League West Midlands Division 1.

However the visitors started brightly and matched their hosts for the early part of the half. It was a defensive error that gave Oswestry the opportunity to drive into the D and open the scoring. Yardley thought they had scored an equaliser after good work along the right flank only for it to be disallowed for a foot infringement. Oswestry enjoyed a period of pressure late on, forcing several short corners before eventually scoring a second to ensure a comfortable lead by half time.

During the second half Oswestry stepped up a gear and scored four more goals from open play. Then a short corner attempt on goal was unfortunately deflected up from a Yardley defender’s stick into his face as he was standing on the line. He was uninjured but Oswestry scored from the resulting penalty flick. To their credit the Yardley stuck to their game and enjoyed a period of pressure towards the end of the game. Unfortunately a chance to pull a goal back was missed when after a deliberate foul on the Yardley centre forward, the resulting penalty flick was saved by the keeper low down to his right. Yardley’s own keeper was then called upon to make several late saves to prevent the final score from getting any worse.

This week Yardley entertain another Shropshire side, Whitchurch, at home.