Men's 1st Team Vs Barford Tigers 3

YARDLEY 1sts      1    BARFORD TIGERS 3rds     2

Goalscorer:  Alex Makepeace

This was a game that Yardley badly wanted to win to ease their relegation fears.

With Storm Dennis flexing its powers at the start, it was a game that everyone wanted to get over and done with before the storm got any worse.

Yardley started as if they meant business making their intentions very clear. They took camp in their opponents’ half for a long while creating many half chances, but without really threatening to do much damage.

Barford Tigers gradually got into their stride and from their first real attacking move forced a penalty corner, which came to nothing. Play became much more even with both teams looking for that all important opening. From a free hit the D Tigers got the ball into the D which was then touched in by alert forward looking for just that opportunity. Yardley worked hard to get back into the game, but just on half time fell another goal behind when a penalty flick was awarded for an unfortunate infringement on the line in an effort to save a rising shot from a short corner going in. The flick was duly dispatched to make the score 2-0 at the break.

As the second half got under way, Storm Dennis was beginning rev up somewhat, to make playing increasingly unpleasant. To their great credit both teams kept at it, both creating several chances. Yardley’s approach play was much more measured than in the first half and both Alex and Jeevan went close with very good efforts. Eventually, Yardley’s persistence paid off to earn a couple of short corners. One of these paid off as Alex received the ball surged into the D to fire in a firm short to reduce the arrears. Right up to the end Yardley tried every which way to grab at least a point. Right on the whistle, with playing conditions becoming very unpleasant, Yardley forced a couple of short corners but just could not make either of them count.

Both teams and the by now very wet spectators, were pleased to hear the final whistle. Tigers pleased with their three points and Yardley, although disappointed with result, can gain some small comfort from their commitment and effort in time for their next game away against Redditch 2nds.