Men's 1st Team Vs Pershore

This game proved to be a hugely entertaining end of season in the Warwick Printing Hockey League West Midlands Division 1

Both teams, with nothing at stake, could have produced a dour end of season affair but to their credit   they ended up with a high-scoring game that could have gone either way but was just edged by the home side.

Yardley got into their stride right from the start and soon produced some promising attacks . Zakariyya Asif drove down the left and into the D before squaring the ball to Usamah Iqbal for a simple tap-in at the far post. Another break saw Rob McGuigan drive into the D from the left, pass to Noor Zaman who made no mistake. A two-goal lead within the first ten minutes! Pershore then stepped up their game and enjoyed a period of their own pressure from which they scored, and then followed up with two more two quick goals. Other attempts on goal were well dealt with by Yardley keeper, Neal Makepeace.  Both teams traded end to end attacks . Rob McGuigan went close before  another lively attack including excellent inter-passing between Alex Makepeace, skipper
Zach Jarvis and Rob McGuigan led to Noor Zaman scoring his second and his team’s third. Just before half-time Zaman drove into the D and completed his hat-trick with a straight strike on goal to give his side a slender lead at the break.

With seven goals in the first half, both teams deserved their half time rest!

Both teams continued to slug it out with more end to end play in the second half before Pershore managed to restore their lead from two well-taken short corners.  Yardley then produced another effort on goal but Zaman’s flick was pushed over the bar by Pershore’s keeper. The home side  thought they had finally won the game when another attacking break produced a chance that was deflected under Yardley’s keeper for their sixth. Not to be out-done, Rob McGuigan picked up the ball just outside the D, got into a shooting position and his reverse shot found the bottom corner. To their credit Yardley pushed on in search of an equaliser but Pershore managed to hold on for all three points. Great praise  to both teams for producing such a thrilling game.

Yardley will have taken much heart from their performances during the second  half of the season and will be pleased not to have  ended up bottom of the league for the first time for quite a few seasons.