Woodley Saints
Lions, Tigers & Pumas

• Login
• Links
• Contact
• Home

Match Report

Lions 2 v 4 Woodley Town Kestrels

Well here we were again, the Lions lining up to face their old foes (if they can be old foes at U6/7) Woodley Town Kestrels. The Lions had superior numbers (9) for the slightly earlier 9.30am kick off but Kestrels boasted the golden booted wonder!

It was an unusual morning, the sun was shining and not a drop of rain to talk about. In fact, it was positively warm for a January Saturday morning. The Lions line up was as follows: Ollie (Deano) in goal, Joseph (Digger), Joe (Buzz), Dylan (Dee), Josh (JJ) captain, Toby (TT), James (Locky), Adam (Becks) and Jack, whose transfer to the U8 had hit complications. Sam Sawyers turned up a few minutes later but ready to join in.

The game kicked off with the Lions 9 all playing against the Kestrels 6. Having been one sided affairs in the past, both managers agreed to try it out and see how it went as 6 v 9 is tough for any team, even one with Kestrels ability. As expected, the Lions crowded out the Kestrels and the game was pretty much a midfield battle. As well as Massimo, all the Kestrels players have made great strides forward and they look a good side. In return, the Lions have lots of energy and their enthusiasm overcomes their fluid positional play.

The game was still 0 0 when Sam turned up and a few quick adjustments saw Sam and Adam kindly volunteer to help out the Kestrels in terms of numbers. It was now 8 v 8. The even numbers now saw Kestrels take advantage and despite some great tackles by Josh, Dylan, Toby and James, the Kestrels started to break through on the Lions goal. In fact, only 2 tremendous saves from Ollie The Cat Deano Dean kept the Lions in the game.

Eventually the Kestrels broke through the Lions and this time it proved decisive, Digger, Buzz and Toby desperate challenges being evaded and a neat finish gave Ollie no chance.

Now at this point, the report becomes a bit hazy as the normally reliable match reporter can’t remember whether Kestrels scored again in the first half or early second half. Let's assume it finished 2-0 at halftime.

The second half saw Jack take up position between the sticks with Digger and Buzz volunteering to join the Kestrels. With Jack no longer on pitch, the Lions found it difficult to contain a now rampant Kestrels side and they quickly broke away to score a further 2 goals. At this point, the Lions crowd were becoming restless and shouts of 'Bennett out' could be heard ringing around the ground. Nasty comments such as 'you couldn’t manage to tie your own shoelaces' and 'go back to playing subbuteo' were heard in the air. It was now that Bennett decided enough was enough and let's try to change things around. Sam reluctantly went in goal and Jack returned on pitch. A quick verbal 'kick up the backside' of a few key Lions players and it was now game on.

Toby, Adam, Jack and Josh started to win their tackles with Ollie providing width, Dylan and James ensuring the team remained compact. The Lions suddenly realised that Jack and Toby were probably the fastest players on the pitch. To prove the point, a neat through ball saw Jack out pace the golden booted wonder and calmly finish for his second of the season. The crowd didn't exactly go wild but there were some cheers which was nice.

A similar move a few minutes later resulted in a second Jack goal and now the Lions crowd were really getting behind their team. Adam, Toby, James and Ollie all had chances to claw the game back but the Kestrels side hung on for another good win.

Summary - No excuses for the weather this time. The lads only started playing when they were 4-0 down. Had they performed all game like they did in the last 10 minutes, I'm sure that they would have been celebrating their long overdue success over the Kestrels.

Goals - Jack 2

MOTM - Jack and Josh shared.

Kit sponsored by Embee Garden Services 0118 9793349 - For all your gardening needs!
© Copyright 2007 by Dave Preece | Design by wfiedler
Icons by IconArchive (Free for non-commercial use)