Wednesday 22nd October – Notre Dame (Home)
“Elliott Wilkins made one fine full length save, keeping the game goalless at half time.”
A Team Match Report: It was another gutsy display from the As against Notre Dame. Missing several key year 6 players meant that they were always going to face an uphill struggle against a competent Notre Dame side. The As played counter attacking football, making last ditch clearances and then attacking on the break. Peter Heyworth played as striker and hounded the Notre Dame defence into several mistakes, helping to create half chances. Toby Storer had a strong game in the middle of midfield and was supported well by Alfie Elliott, Henri Whitehorne and Daniel Troop. Monty Dunn and Rory Yeoman worked well together to resist the Notre Dame pressure and limit them to shots from distance during the first half. Elliott Wilkins made one fine full length save, keeping the game goalless at half time.
It proved to be an even second half as well, with As soaking up pressure and then pushing forward, looking for a goal. The breakthrough came after Wilkins took a quick goal kick. The ball was stolen by Notre Dame and finished with real aplomb, just inside the box by their striker. The As, to their credit, continued to pressure Notre Dame and several decent chances were just missed, notably a header from Heyworth, that went agonisingly wide. It was great pressure again from Heyworth, getting to a ball that didn’t deserve to be his. This summed up the performance – great all-round effort from the team, but coming up just short. The game finished 1-0 to the visitors.
B Team Match Report:
The Beechwood B team had a fantastic game versus Notre Dame B team on Wednesday at College Field. Both teams cancelled each other out in the early stages. James Le Vasseur and Remi Guezo dealt with all of the Notre Dame attacks with ease and keeper Daniel Lasenby had little to do. It was against the run of play, when Notre Dame scored a goal minutes before half time. From the kick off though, James Kennedy ran on to a loose ball to equalise. In a similar attack just moments after, it was our new super striker James Kennedy who ran after a precision pass from Ben Burgess. It looked like the goalkeeper would reach the ball first but, as he dived on the ball, it squeezed out like a block of soap, into Kennedy’s path. James calmly took the ball around the keeper and crashed the ball into the net, 2-1. From the resulting kick off however, Notre Dame won a corner and for the first time in the half, Guezo and Le Vasseur lost their attackers and it was one of these boys who slotted home to make it 2-2. In the final attack before half time, Kennedy broke free once more and rattled the post before the keeper allowed the ball to squirm under his hands and onto the goal line. Mr Sutton could not say for certain that the ball crossed the line, so at half time the score was 2-2.
After a half time talk full of praise, the B team went after Notre Dame from the kick off and, within a couple of attacks, James Kennedy completed his hat-trick as he slotted home from a narrow angle to make it 3-2 to ECJS. The score remained at 3-2 for most of the rest of the half and the game began to resemble a cross between football and tennis. The match ended Beechwood B 4-4 Notre Dame B