| Match Report |
Yardley Badgers 0 V 0 Berskwell and Balsall Common
This was a very disciplined performance from the Yardley defence. Islam played centre back with Jack and Edan either side. Their performance on the day was the reason the team didn't lose the game. They protected Anthony in goal, who was only called upon a handful of times throughout the game. The tackling and blocking of shots by the defenders was impressive. The visitors had some big hitters who were happy to wind up their shots, with sticks going wildly high with the follow through (dangerously on many occasions). When they occasionally did make a clean contact they hit the ball hard/fast at goal, irrelevant if defenders were in the way. The defenders and keeper blocked these shots and luckily for Yardley the back post saved Berkswell's final shot in the second half. The powerful shot beat both defender and keeper and looked to be going in but that post had other ideas...
The defenders linked up really well with the midfield throughout the game and the majority of Yardley's possession was in the middle of the pitch. All the midfield players constantly kept looking for space to receive the ball and the movement with the ball was positive. The Yardley forwards did find it tricky upfront being so isolated but to their credit they constantly tried finding space and dropping deep to find possible breaks.
Possession was pretty even between both teams but the visitors had a lot more of it in the attacking zone. They won many penalty corners in the first half, but Yardley eventually restricted them so none were awarded in the second period.
The midfield of Yardley struggled in the second half to break down the congested midfield, failing to make quick short clinical passes and instead relying on dribbling through the crowded areas. Eventually the team relied on hopeful long ball passes to the forwards. These were hopeful at best and possession was lost, but it did give some respite momentarily.
The home team should be happy that they got something from the game as they gave a very dogged performance and deserved the point.
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