Blues v Beechfield at Boteler

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July 28 2009, 3:59 am
There was an air of excitement and expectation as our blue team warmed up in the warm July early evening sunshine after the long transfer from our training pitches in Great Sankey. The Beechfield team looked well prepared, practising their passing and running through a series of stretching exercises, whilst watching our boys put Reuben through his paces with some carefully placed shots after he had donned the goalie’s shirt and shots. For some of our team it was the second time they had run out in Crosfields colours, for others it was their first taste of competition against another club. As kick-off time loomed there was a flurry of activity as our away strip was rushed onto the pitch, the referee deeming our Crosfield colours too similar to the home team’s and we quickly changed into red and yellow. Finally the whistle blow and our boys launched themselves into the match. Beechfield had a game plan to hit us quickly from the off, and with their first play of the match they moved the ball swiftly to their forwards who drove a high ball past Reuben’s outstretched right hand. Undeterred by this early set back Shiv lead the charge of Crosfields forwards and midfield over the halfway line, only to be pushed back by Beechfield’s long ball game and good use of their right hand flank to pin us back in our own half. The boys fought hard shutting down the opposition’s passing and covering every blade of grass in their valiant effort to foil the Beechfield attacks. They had to resort to long balls in from the edge of the box and many shots were smothered, first by Reuben and then Matthew in goal. Timely substitutions kept our team fresh and we learned a lot about defending sustained attacks, breaking down to the other end of the vast Thomas Boteler pitch whenever we could. At the end of the intense 23 minute half, our “blues” left the pitch with their heads held high knowing that they had put their all into their performance and played fair and with great spirit even if the score line didn’t give them the justice they deserved for their efforts.

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