7s Miss Out In a Tightly Fought Contest

After a slow start Sonning came under almost constant attack from Newbury for the first five minutes. Despite some great defending from Simon Combstock, Steven Olds, Andy Staig, Jerry Cresswell and Andrew Fry the team conceded a number of short corners all of which were saved by Rhys Page which included a ball that was destined for the roof of the net that was deftly flicked over the crossbar by the young keeper's stick. The game eventually evened out with both teams attacking each other but never making it further than the edge of each others D.

Half time saw Sonning's performance change with Max, JJ and Syed Hassan supplying great runs for Russell Syvier, Dave Ransome, Phil "first name on the teamsheet" Cooper and Jaydan Churchill, with Sonning constantly attacking. Unfortunately Sonning not only were finding it difficult to get the shot off but also failing to hit the target when they got the chance.

In the last 10-15 minutes, it was end to end with both defences being challenged. Phil Cooper, at this point playing as the high forward was failing to get the ball anywhere near the goal but one of Newbury’s attacks managed to get through our defence which led to a one on one with goalie Rhys Page which he skilfully deflected wide, keeping the team in the game.

In the last five minutes or so, Newbury broke through aiming for the Top of the D but the ball took a deflection and fell kindly for the opposition’s striker which he by fluke tapped into the bottom right corner. Newbury pressed on and had a bunch of attacks in the closing stages but Sonning’s strong defence held out and they were unable to score

In the end we felt disappointed in the result, but were, in any case, happy with the performance.

MoM: Rhys Page, who kept us in the first half with some great saves.

DoD: Simon "Top Gun" Comstock for wearing aviators for the entire game.

Match Teas: Pasta Bolegnese with some great hospitality from Newbury and Thatcham that included a free jug of beer!