TEENAGER TAMES THE VETS

Within one minute we had a short corner, the shot was blocked, the ball bobbled around, Paul B took a swipe and it was in the goal. Off to a cracking pace with the score already at 1-0. Surely it wouldn't be this easy?

Then the Vets put the power on. We pretty much defended for the next 20 mins. There were some golden moments when our strikers ran high, but only when they were running around up high (and the defenders were clearly rattled, and kept pushing themselves deeper and deeper). Unfortunately a defensive muddle let the Vets get a shot on and the ball cracked straight into the backboard.

After half time, the match started to turn (were the Vets tiring?), as we finally started to pass cleverly, going ping-ping-ping down the ground and pushing our strikers to do some good attacking runs. Stuart McDonald made the astute observation that we needed to mark their centre-forward out of the game, so we did, and it worked.

With 4 defenders around, Charlie and James were left outnumbered in the D in a tussle, but Charlie managed to make a flick into goal, at perfect height above the keeper's knees. GOAL!!!! And that changed the game. The scoring tap was left on, and Zac drilled it into the D, Charlie deflected and the ball was in the goal. Then again from Charlie, a shot at goal, bouncing off the keeper and over the line. And so the youngest player in the team nabs a hat-trick.

This was probably an acceptable result, but another goal would have been more comfortable. It was a very strong Vets side, with some brilliant players, and despite comments from the gallery in the week leading up to the game (and all summer long), it was never going to be a walk in the park. Our pre-match short corner drills paid off with practice continuing into the first two minutes of the game. Zac had a brilliant game in the midfield, and Paul W played a solid and reliable role, too. Toby played high centre-mid well, and unlucky to not get a goal. Ravi, as always, was greatly valued in defence.

Many thanks to Edd Thorogood and Martin Harris for umpiring before their own games later in the day, and to Stephen Gilbert for providing a splendid opposition. We happily welcomed Ben Eve to his first league game with the club, and seems to be fitting into the team well.

Injuries:
Joni - smashed up fingers in short corner practice before the game. Didn't help when one of the Vets later trampled on them.

James - bruised eye socket after trying to header the ball.

Charlie - inflated ego.