Reading v Oxford City 27th Feb
After our recent cup triumph against the Oxford city, only a couple of weeks later we now faced them again in the league! The recent cup draw also sees us playing them again in the second round in a few weeks time! We will be playing some other opponents soon I’m sure!
Both the teams were in action this time, with the first team up first. We got off to a great start after Elliot got on the scorecard early on with a nice pair of longshots. After the switch around Oxford got one goal, but we matched that with a close range effort from Stu. It was clearly going to be Elliots day with a personal tally of 4 only 20 minutes in! The score stood at 5-1 and things were looking good…. As we progressed toward half time they managed to get a couple back, but we were hanging on and still playing some good looking Korf. Beth finished a move off nicely by adding a longshot and we went into half time 6-5 to the good.
After the break they came out and scored from the first attack to level the scores, we really had a game now! The lead changed hands on 2 or 3 occasions as the half progressed in the fast moving game. Elliot kept us in the hunt with some fanstastic shooting adding another 4 to his tally and breaking Blaggys record for goals in a league match! Beth also got her second with a good lonshot from downtown. As the crunch approached we faltered slightly, and a couple of mistakes cost us dearly as they converted easy chances at just the wrong moments. The game finished 13-11 to Oxford.
Team (goals): Elliot (8), Dave, Steve, Stu (1), Beth L (2), Lizzie, Hannah, Emma and Fran.
Next up the second team took to the pitch including several of those who had just given their all in the first game. It was a real tense affair with both teams very evenly matched. Countless shots came very close to dropping, but somehow managed to stay out of the evil plastic korf. We were solid in defense and the attacks were really starting to come together and put them under pressure. Final score was 4-2 to Oxford.
All in all there were many positives to take from the games. Some fantastic individual efforts and both were solid team performances. With nationals only a week away, it is fantastic to see how far we have come since September! Best of luck for next week – I can sense us causing a few upsets!
