Badgers Vs Solihull Blossomfield

Solihull Blossomfield 0 v 1 Yardley Badgers

Yardley only had 9 players for this game due to late cry offs due to injuries and family commitments. We politely asked the home teams Captain if we could loan a few players. He said he would ask his squad of players and seemed keen to loan us a few. Unfortunately, the Solihull Blossomfield players all said they would rather rotate as subs on their own team. It was after all said and done their prerogative.

Straight from the first whistle the Yardley Badgers put pressure on the home team. The central-midfield of Islam, Jahed, and Rahmann used their speed to close down players on the ball. Winning possession and keeping possession with intelligent passes. Baraka, Shamikh and Zak supported the central midfield being in excellent positions for passes and making great runs into the heart of the home team’s defence. All six worked really hard in the middle of the pitch, making it look as if we had the extra players.

The Captain, after discussion with John Ballard, decided to play without a keeper and just have a kicking back. Getting all the 9 players involved in the game play seemed the best ideal. Kicking back Paul hardly had a touch first half, only a few interceptions and back passes for recycling the play. Jack and Edan were the defensive support to the kicking back and they both played intelligent hockey. Closing down opponents and picking the best time to get great tackles in. They were brilliant throughout the game and boosted the team’s confidence knowing they had good stoppers behind them.

The early pressure was all Yardley and with our defence pushing the midfield higher up the pitch the attacks came thick and fast. Islam scored after twelve minutes from a team attack down the right side.

Shamikh was having his best game so far with some brilliant positioning on the wide left. Always in space he kept getting the passes and either ran at the defence or put in some powerful crosses into the “D”. Zak kept possession of the ball intelligently, only releasing the pass when his team mates made good runs. Baraka mixed up her game fantastically, putting in great dribbling runs when needed and accurate passes bringing in other team mates into the game.

Man of the match Islam was the fastest player on the pitch and he used his speed not only to get past opponents, but also to win possession back if he lost the ball.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get a decisive second goal in the first half with their keeper making good saves.

During the second half the home team were better drilled and tactically used the extra men more to their advantage. The visitors were pushed back to defend deep for long periods but to their credit all the team worked hard to keep the slender lead intact. Even John Ballard on the side coaching/encouraging the team was getting a little hoarse with his constant praising and phrases of “pressure” / “pass out wide”.

Yardley's attacks became less frequent than in the first 35 minutes but the team played intelligently trying to hold onto possession more than go on thunderous attacks like in the first half. The limited breakaway attacks did give the team rest breaks and the shots were again either saved by the home team keeper or the adult defender at the back.

The whole team started to sense a victory and dug deep into their resources to quash the Solihull attacks. Defending deep meant the attacks were constant in the last ten minutes but the team defended as a unit. As the pressure mounted it did spill over to the side-lines with the Umpire having to calm the parents and our coach down.

A great victory for Yardley with 9 players. The effort and teamwork earned them this deserved victory away to Solihull Blossomfield.

Goal scorer: ISLAM