Men's 5th XI Vs Shrewsbury 5 Dev

This weeks game saw us take on Shrewsbury 5ths/Development. The potential of this game was made very apparent in the 15 minutes, where we could tell that we would need to dig in deep to ensure a victory.

Throughout the majority of the first half it felt like a game of tennis where one team would attack and the opposition would immediately counter, only for it the opportunity to fizzle out.

However the main reason as to why our left side was so solid was because of Fred. Every single time the opposition attacked his area, he made a challenged and he would either win the ball and quickly distribute it forward or it would be a 50/50 stick tackle which went in his favour.

After a very busy previous week in goal, in form Alex used his whits to come off his line multiple times to clear the ball from danger and was successful every time.

You might then think that nothing could get past Alex… well Coler decided to put this to the test after nearly scoring into our own goal! Perhaps he was too eager to continue his very impressive goal scoring form!

Moving towards the other end of the pitch, both John Keeble & John Higginson would find the ball at the centre of the pitch and look to move it forward at pace. This would find both Ewan & Chris Evans who then looked to move the play out wider where we found lots of chances but just missed the clinical precision.

Halftime came and the team knew what was needed. Keep working like we have since the start of the season and we will continue to get chances, but we have to ensure we don’t forget our defensive responsibilities.

In similar fashion to our previous games, within 10 minutes we found very good opportunities. It didn’t look like Jack was out of position at Right Back but he certainly made it look like he’s been playing there years! This was due to his composure on the ball, both taking on players and calmly finding his teammates in difficult situations.

After Jack cooly took on 2 players, he released the ball quickly through the middle and found Seth on the Left flank. Seth then piled on the pressure to the opposition by passing the ball past multiples players, which went to Tom. Tom looks up at the keeper and sees Chris at the far post, however the keeper also saw Chris’ run and stepped towards him. Tom saw his opportunity and hit the ball into the open space at the near post where the keeper had left.

The remainder of the game was predominantly controlled by Telford. Except the final 5 minutes. After making an interception just outside the oppositions 16’, they countered and  certainly decided to make us work for this win!

However the team didn’t panic. Everyone tracked back but more importantly, defended as a team. The opposition were left frustrated as they couldn’t get past the impenetrable wall which was the unit of the whole team.

Full time and a hard fought 1-0 victory. Some would say we worked hard, others would say we never gave up … however Seth in the post match cool-down in the clubhouse called us overrated! Yes overrated! (Seth definitely didn’t mean to say overpowered)

Result:

1-0 Win

Scorers:

Tom Keeble

Assists:

Seth Higginson

M.O.M:

Freddie Preece (After such a strong and consistent defensive performance, big well done to Fred!)