Men's 1st Team Vs Barford Tigers 4

CoBHC  Men’s 1sts     2       1  Barford Tigers 4ths

Goalscorers:  Ash Baig. Noor Zaman

City of Birmingham gained a valuable three points in hard-fought, somewhat feisty game, but as a result, secured 3rd place in the league with three more tricky games left in the first half of the season.

The Tigers arrived with a good-sized squad but with no goalkeeper. CoBHC might have been forgiven for sensing this was a chance for the taking. The game made a lively start, with both sides probing for opportunities.  CoB created a good early chance to sneak ahead, but unfortunately, Jeevan’s chance went wide. CoB continued to show good possession and several half chances were created. Barford’s first real foray forward led to them forcing a short corner. The shot on goal was well cleared by Zach. Another short corner was then well saved by Neal. In spite of their good possession, Cob were not really making the most of their opportunities. Several chances went begging as the Tigers’ defence held firm in spite of no keeper. Eventually a series of positive attacks led to a couple of short corners, the second of which was put away by Ash to open the scoring. Barford’s attacks mainly carried little threat as the CoB defence more than held their own. However, Tigers did force a short corner. A well-taken shot gave Neal no chance as Tigers levelled the scores. So it remained until the break.

The start of the second half saw CoB begin a little sluggishly, not able to get into their stride for some time. Tigers were showing plenty of intent but no serious threat. Mid-way through the half, things began to get a little feisty and the umpires called the captains over and instructed them to get their troops to calm down.  As the game then progressed, a couple of clashes saw Tigers receive a green and then a yellow card. CoB also had Alex green-carded. Good work by Junaid along the    right-wing set up several promising moves as CoB looked for another goal. Barford too were working hard to push forward. A positional change saw Sohail and Ash swap positions as the home side continued their forward efforts. The umpires saw need to call the skippers over again and further team talks ensued. The winning goal came about as Zach made in important interception and moved forward to set up Alex who set off to the D and got a shot away that was met by Noor who slotted home to clinch the points.

CoB had made hard-work of their game with too many long balls out of defence, hopeful of reaching a forward. However, everyone gave their all, overcame, some tough tackling and defended brilliantly throughout, As they say, a win is a win – as long as you score more than your opposition!!

Nest week sees another tough game, away at KIngswinford.