Men's 2nd Team Vs Wednesbury 3rds

CoBHC Second team  4 V 1  Wednesbury 3rds

Goalscorers:  Anthony Truelove X2, Noor Zaman X2

The home team started very strongly for a good twenty minutes, dominating the visitors’ “D”. When an attack broke down the home team won possession again quickly and began attacking once more. Good use of the wide players and excellent spread of play by Zach and Jordan in midfield, lead to continuous pressure. The Wednesbury team were stunned and shocked and could not get out of their own half. This high intensity led to several chances and eventually the first goal. Anthony lobbed his shot over the diving keeper for the home team to take an early lead. Noah upfront kept setting up forwards in dangerous areas for good shots on target. The keeper was very busy in the early period. Eventually Noor got a shot away to give the home team a cushion. The visitors eventually settled themselves down and began to get control for short periods but the strong defence guided by Ian thwarted any problems. Towards the end of the half the visitors won a short corner, and due to a disorganised defensive drill, confusion ensued, giving Wednesbury a goal and a boost in confidence. Towards the end of the half the home team had a well worked goal disallowed as players crossed.

At half time the Captain noted it was the most complete team performance so far this season.

Second half was a completely different affair. Both teams were more evenly matched and the game was finely balanced. The visitors had a bright fifteen minutes, and Jack in goal with his defence had to hold strong to keep the home team in the lead. The structure of the home team evaporated but they kept getting counterattacks to put the visitors on the back foot. Zach from midfield put an ariel into the “D” and as the defender-miss-hit the ball, Noor collected the loose falling ball and shot twice at the keeper scoring at the second attempt. Eventually the fast counter attack play resulted in good crosses which gave various players shots on the open back post. Eventually Anthony picked up a cross as it pinged between various players to get the home team’s fourth.

An exciting game of hockey, but a slight change in team shape in the second half meant players had to work a lot harder to control the game, causing lots of fatigue. Every individual made great strides in this game, but team balance and shape needs constant monitoring.

Well done.