| Stratford 1 v 1 Yardley Badgers
Goal scorer - Sean.
After last week’s cancelled game against Coventry due to a frozen pitch the whole team was keen to get back into the swing of things. Yardley fielded one adult whilst Stratford fielded none. They did have a tall lad who had pace and strength. He was a continual danger to us and our defence did a good job thwarting him. Noah on the left, John in the centre and Ubaydah out right are proving a difficult backline to beat. John was the authority figure on the pitch, always guiding and pushing the youngsters forward.
Our midfielders are gelling fantastically as each game passes and were in charge for large periods of the game. Rahmann combined effectively with Ayesha in the centre, distributing the ball wide or forward. But they also both worked hard winning the ball back being competitive and strong. The wide layers are progressing too. Now they are working the whole length of the pitch, gambling on the back post pass and helping the defenders. Hard work but they never complain.
Our forwards were more involved this game. We had three up front and they all eventually learned to co-ordinated as a unit, to find space and also to pressure the opponents’ defenders. In Sean’s case the pressure was on all opposition players in midfield too. Edan made some good runs with the ball, had a shot saved by the keeper and tackled postitivly. Ethan again made good use of the space and was always a passing option for his team mates. One reverse side collection from a midfield pass was excellent skill from Ethan. Ross was using some great stick skills and was revelling in the strikers roll.
Our goal came in the 30th minute, from a scramble in the “D”. Yardley eventually got a cross to the far post, Sean timed his run into the “D” to perfection and placed the ball to the keepers left, hitting just inside sideboard. Yardley defended deep with two minutes remaining in the half to keep the lead. Second half was again an even game and Jack our keeper was called upon to make some timely saves. The Stratford tall lad did get injured and for that period we controlled the game. When he returned with minutes left Stratford applied strong pressure and eventually they got a goal ten seconds before final whistle. 1-1.
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