5s storm to victory

Match Report by Philip Cooper

A cold and foggy afternoon greeted both teams at Fortress Sonning. Whilst waiting for their match to begin Hadders led the newly formed ritual of an actual warm-up with Andrew Fry trailing close behind. Both teams spent large parts of their warm ups drilling short corners so this would likely be won over set pieces.

First half

As the mist drew in the Hawks pushed back and Sonning quickly took over possession and sent the ball upfield with Grant Strudley failing to score on the near post. The Boys of the Blue and Gold were putting on constant pressure in the first five minutes with Grant Strudley using lateral movement to consistently lose his marker. The Mighty ‘Ning scored early on from a short corner with Sam Boseley flicking the ball onto Grant Strudley on the far post to tap it home.

Oxford went straight on the attack but the Birds attacks were soon shut down by the no nonsense defence of Andrew Fry, Kevin Mist, Craig Strudley, Rich Boyden and Tyler Churchill. Sonning soon countered with a spot-on pass from Ian Hadland to Matthew Denham which Denham failed to finish off.

Elliot expressed his ever growing confidence on the ball by using stickwork and foot movement to gain extra space. The wide players of Sam Boseley, Tom Adams, Ed Goodall and Matthew Denham were rotating frequently so the tempo down the flanks could remain high.

Sonning were getting some well worked short corners but failing to score. Against run of play a pair of fluorescent boots popped up and the back post and the stick that was attached to them scored on The Avians first proper venture into the D. Who said flashy boots didn’t get results.

This switched Sonning on and “The second sexiest team in Sonning” started distributing the ball with venom. Soon Ed Goodhall overlapped Elliot on the edge of the D to score in the opposite corner. Sonning had taken the lead again and soon added to it with a goal by Matt Denham. the wide player cut inside with a diagonal run on the ball which he then dropped in the opposite corner after he had dragged the him out of position.

There was no looking back now as Hadders’ chest high smash was deflected off the blade of Ed’s Stick into the top corner of the net. 4-1.

The match was effectively over but the Hawks started to wake up. Max and Hadders were on the hustle in midfield but Oxford kept possession and territory well for the last 10 minutes of the half and managed to get a few corners and a couple of shots which were expertly saved by Rhys Page.

Second Half

The temperature had dropped and the mist was ever closing in however the fire was strong in the Fives and they dominated the start of the half. The inevitable goal came as Grant deflected a ball from Max who was located at the top of the D past the keeper’s outstretched kicker.

Sonning pressed forward but poor final balls into the D stopped them from adding to their tally. This soon changed as Grant Strudley weighted an excellent through ball to Elliott Wise who then whistled his shot past the post.

Ed missed an early chance at a hat trick by missing an easy chance in front of goal. The string of near misses finished when Hadders took the ball down the byline to gift the incoming Sam Boseley and easy finish.

Spirits were high and the confident defence were caught off guard forcing Rhys into a 1 on 1. The Young Keeper easily and confidently slid in and cleaned up the potential problem.

When you are 6-1 up most teams change things up and Kevin did this by calling Grant off for himself. However Hadders was having none of this and made sure Kevin was sent back to his rightful position leaving himself to hunt for glory.

The final two Sonning goals came in quick succession with Elliott taking the ball into the D and finishing the job by himself. Elliot also had a hand in the final goal when his shot hit the keeper’s leg protectors and Ed took the quick rebound to complete his hattrick

Guest coach Luke Wise was quick to lambaste Andrew Fry when his foul for not being 5 metres. Onlookers thought this harsh as Andrew had charged down many short corners. This foul then led to the final goal which finished the match 8-2.

MoM

Ed Goodall with his hattrick and great work ethic.

DoD

Sam Boseley for a number of reasons

Next week sees another Oxford clash but this time it is away. Oxford 7s are low down the table but will the fantastic fives be up for a long away game? Surely another win will take them out of relegation fodder and place them safely in mid table.

The match report podcast

Last but not least we have a post game interview with Max as Part of “The Match Report” podcast. Listen on the link here-> https://soundcloud.com/philip-cooper-4/match-report-001