With a last minute change of venue from an away fixture to a home fixture, due to a water logged pitch, we welcomed Hardwick Harriers FC (HHFC) to the school, with a later than planned kick-off. As such, the boys were a little slow out of the blocks, as it was HHFC who started the brighter of the two sides. Within a couple of minutes of the kick-off, HHFC broke down our right and delivered a perfect cross into our 6 yard box for a simple, unchallenged tap in (0-1). This woke the boys up and we started to put some nice moves together and with Luca putting in the hard yards down the left wing, supplying cross after cross, it felt like only a matter of time before we equalised. Had it not been for some good saves by their GK, or the ball just going the wrong side of the post, the equaliser would have come earlier than it did. As it was, with about 10 minutes to go, a well timed through ball from Rohan, saw Jake latch onto it and slot it past their GK (1-1). Then with fresh support from the side lines, from a certain group, the boys upped their game even more and we went into half time with a draw.
The second half started like the first had finished, with the boys putting HHFC’s defence under pressure with both Jake and George coming close but unable to make their chances count, although it was never going to be a one sided game and HHFC were always a threat. Thankfully though with Spencer and Rohan commanding the back 4, their attacks never really tested Chris or Ronnie in goal. The break-through came after about 10 minutes into the second half when Jake played George in on goal and after seeing his first shot blocked, kept his eye on the ball and calmly made the rebound count (2-1). It wasn’t long before George got his second of the game, when again a nice move between him and Jake resulted in George finishing well (3-1). HHFC responded and were putting us under pressure once more, when a mis-timed tackle gave them a free kick mid-way in our half. The resulting ball in was neatly flicked on towards goal and although initially well saved by Chris, HHFC were first to react to the loose ball and again slotted it home from close range (3-2). A few weeks ago this would have knocked the boys confidence, but this has been slowly building game after game and with the likes of Jake chasing every through ball, we always looked dangerous. Sure enough Jake found himself in on goal after beating a defender to fire it past the advancing GK (4-2). The boys were not finished there, with Xav and both Ben’s continuously feeding the wings, we had chances to finish the game off. The best of these came from a cross which found Peter diving in at the back post, only for his header to be denied by the width of the post. As it was, the game finished 4-2 which gave the boys their first back to back win of the season.
Many thanks to Hardwick for a good, enjoyable, friendly game of football.
Today’s Captain: Rohan
Man of the Match: Jake
Well done to all the boys for another great team performance. Our next game is against Chesterton Eagles at home on Saturday 6 February 2016, 11.30am.