We woke to yet another wet morning - that's three weekends we've played, & it's rained every time! This was by far the wettest - apart from causing serious delays with the Ryder Cup that's currently being played in Wales, it was apparent that some local teams had called their matches off due to flooded pitches.
John & I arrived to set the goals up & were pleased to see that our pitch seemed OK. The goal areas were a bit muddy & likely to get worse, but overall the pitch seemed to have drained well despite the dreadful weather.
Clearly it's only the coaches, parents & supporters that are concerned by the weather - as usual the boys arrived full of smiles & ready for the challenge ahead. After a warm-up, we were ready to get going.......
Match 1
I'm not sure what our boys had eaten for breakfast, but they started like an express train, with lots of possession & plenty of shots on goal. Unfortunately like last week, we were up against a goalkeeper who excelled himself & was covered in mud from head to foot within a few minutes. It seemed like every one of our boys had a chance to score (including Ben, Dylan, Joel & William)& it seemed inevitable that we would take the lead before long.
However, completely against the run of play, Beverley picked the ball up in our half & after a great run from one of their players, they managed to score.
One of the many attributes of our team is that they are undaunted when the other side score & we continued to attack through the remainder of the first half & the second half. However, despite raining shots on their goal, we didn't manage to get the goal we deserved & the score remained 1-0 to Beverley
Match 2
After a brief spell when the rain had stopped, the umbrellas went up again as the second match got underway. By now there were lots of muddy faces (and knees & hands etc) on both sides & it was difficult to tell what colour shirt each goalkeeper was wearing - by now, they were distinctly brown!
The second match seemed to follow the format of the first one, with Cottingham having lots of possession & chances, but no goals as reward. However, Beverley took the few chances that came their way & by the end of the first half we found ourselves 2-0 down.
In the second half we threw caution to the wind & decided to push more players into attack. We were finally rewarded when the referee gave us a penalty for a hand-ball in the area. (It seemed a bit harsh to me, but it was awarded by Beverley's referee rather than ours.) Harry took responsibility for taking the penalty & crashed it into the net. (I really laughed later in the match when the Beverley coach was shouting instructions to one of his defenders to mark Harry. He shouted "watch their number 6....... the one with a beard!!" Whilst I admit he's big for his age, he's not using my razors just yet!)
Fired on, the boys played some great football & shortly afterwards drew level after a well worked goal scored by Josh C. The goal was well deserved & it was good to see Josh's good all round play properly rewarded.
We continued to push hard for the win but despite lots of great efforts, we just couldn't score again before the whistle went. It was terrific to see the boys fight back from 2-0 to draw 2-2 & it was an all round team effort from all eleven players. Special mention must go to those boys (including Kieran, Josh L, Taylor & Ewan) who worked tirelessly to provide great defence & also to support our attacks.
We then decided to have a penalty competition, despite the goalmouth looking like a mud-bath & the penalty spot being water-logged. And just like last week, through a combination of great saves from Benson & some tremendous shots from all our players, we comfortably won the penalty shoot-out.
So, all the players left happy & looking forward to the matches still to come. And as always, the usual thanks from me & John for the terrific vocal encouragement from our supporters & for their help in setting up & dismantling the goals.
And it was great to hear that the "B" team continued their unbeaten run with 3-0 & 1-0 wins away at Swanland.
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