Due to late cry offs and some transport problems Yardley Badgers were restricted to ten players. But this was no early Halloween horror show. Worcester also arrived with only ten, and it soon settled into a well-balanced, competitive game. Both sides played some “good hockey”, as was shouted from the supporters on the side line. Passing was accurate and the teams matched each other in every department
The team play from the Yardley Badgers was impressive in this game and they looked the more likely to score. The lessons learned from last week had been heeded. Worcester's adult tackled hard but fair against our strike force. This player continually cut off our probing attacks and got the Worcester wide players into the game. His push outs from penalty corners were accurate and hard. His presence inside our 23m line intimidated our defenders. Our younger players were initially 'star struck' by his prowess and gave him too much respect and time on the ball. Sean, through dogged endeavour pressured him and inspired the rest of his team mates to get at him and pressure him into mistakes. It was an immense pleasure, It was good to see them getting 'stuck in'.
It was after about 17 minutes the only goal of the game came and it was a well struck shot that gave Jack our keeper little chance to save. Just after that we had a guest player arrive; Pradeep. She slotted into defence to free Ubaydah into midfield. This strengthening of the midfield with the extra player gave the home team an edge which lead to more probes into the opponents “D” but they never really tested the Worcester keeper as the adult defence swept up all the risks we produced. In the second half Jack again pulled off four consecutive saves keeping Yardley in the game. I must mention the game last week, as I failed to mention in the report that Jack saved a penalty flick with a chest block again keeping us in the game..
John our sole adult player remained in our own half throughout, coaching our team from the heart of the defence. He was impressed with our efforts and believes this is a great Badger team in the making. This week without rolling substitutes some of our players were feeling tired towards the end but to their credit they never moaned once and kept working as hard as they could.
Man of the Match was given to Noah who defended the attacks from Worcester right wing, effortlessly tackling and clearing the lines. With four minutes to go the Badgers threw on two first teamers to pressure the Worcester adults at the back with hard crisp passing to the youngsters. This led to four minutes of constant pressure but with only four minutes left it was a little late to get a deserved equaliser. A week off for the Badgers next week so rest your hard worked legs.
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