Sonning 7 XI 1 - 7 Sonning 6 XI

First league game for the Sonning 7s for the season! All the players of the team arrived early and were interacting with each other and as soon as the Captain arrived, there was already tension in the air between the two teams… This was after all a very important game for the ‘Yurds’! As some players started warming up, the rest of the team were observing another interclub league game of the Ladies 1st Team playing the newly promoted 2nd Team. When they finished battling it out, we took to the pitch and began our usual warm up. As the umpires called and blew the whistle, the newly appointed captain, Tyler ‘Yurdy’ Churchill took the centre of the pitch and faced up to the appointed captain of the 6s, Syed Hussain.

The game was very interesting with our newly padded keeper Owen Page, and also helping in defence: David Latimer, Steve Olds, Andy Staig, Andrew Fry. With Captain Yurd as defensive midfielder, we then had Andy Barrett, Simon Combstock and Russ Sivyer helping push the ball up to the attackers. Furthermore, upfront: Mick Hill, Jay Churchill, Dave Ransome and attacking midfielder, Jon Newman, were up there ready and waiting for some attacking!

We started the game off very strong with most of the possession within the first five minutes with a few strikes on the goal. But after some hard attacks from the 6s, they managed to score their first goal. This did not deter the Yurds as a strong slap from Jay sent the ball between the keeper’s legs from the top of the D. Score: 1-1. Shortly after our goal, the 6s had another attack and scored a second goal. This left the scoreline at Sonning Yurds 1-2 Sonning 6s. We had a strong team talk at half time with everyone’s involvement talking about improvement points for the game, accompanied by Steve Old’s Disney sweets and some fresh oranges from the Churchill’s. We then started the second half just as strong as the first but unfortunately the team seemed to become tired. The rest of the goals were to our detriment but we will not dwell on those bits…

Overall I was a very happy captain with the team for being hardworking, coordinated, communicative and playing the ‘simple game’. This will now lead us onto this week against Newbury and Thatcham. Despite the loss, I believe our stonking first half and general upbeat morale are things to work from in our upcoming games.

MOM: Owen Page - Having a superb first game in goal.
DOD: Simon Combstock- For completing a tremendous aerial which (rather than going forward) soared behind him and indeed the defensive side.

COTN!

Match Report written by Captain Tyler ‘Yurdy’ Churchill.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Match report:

We may have lost at the end of the day but it was a victory in many ways.

We absorbed lots of pressure. We worked hard for each other and never gave up.

Jay scored a peachy goal between the legs of Mr Miller.

We passed the ball well and managed long periods of possession.

We even managed gravity defying aerials which saw the ball travel high, wide and backwards.

Dave Latimer gave them hell. Andy Barrett and Steve "The Rock" Olds saved my bacon on a few occasions.

For my part I would like to apologise for letting so many in but I had a grand time and would happily jump between the posts again if required.

Match Report written by Owen Page.