Men's 1st Team Vs Barford Tigers 3

YARDLEY   1    BARFORD TIGERS    0

An excellent team performance saw the home side clinch a deserved win against a lively Barford Tigers team. Yardley’s ninth win of the season enabled them to put the heavy defeat from earlier in the season, against their opponents well behind them.

Yardley had to make some changes to their line-up before the start of the game. Out were Alex and Mat, but in came Rob, Harry and Ed. If only ALL these players were available at the same time ………

The early exchanges saw both sides in attacking mode and creating several chances between them.

Yardley looked lively each time they moved forward but just could not find the final cutting edge. Tigers posed the occasional threat with their attacks but the Yardley defence stood firm with Harry strong in a central defensive role.

Much of the first half remained evenly poised but with Yardley slightly enjoying the better of the exchanges during this first period.

Yardley exerted good pressure right from the off during this second period and almost created a golden opportunity to sneak into the lead.  Although Tigers were creating some good half chances, they never really tested keeper Neal Makepeace. Neither did they make the most of several short corners they created. Yardley were often quicker to the ball and coming out well from tackles to continue to set up chance after chance. Eventually, one of Yardley’s strong attacks did lead to a deserved goal. Skipper Zach Jarvis drove the ball into the D from the left-hand side, where it was met by Ricky Morton who simply met the ball and turned it into the goal.

Yardley might have added to their lead but could not get the final touch. Tigers tried to get back into the game, but Yardley’s defence again held firm. The final whistle blew to give Yardley a deserved victory that their whole team performance throughout richly deserved. It would be hard to select a ‘man of the match’ as everyone in the team played their part in the victory.