Y4 have Jekyll and Hyde day against Bishop Road 12 Feb

The sun was shining and all was good on the Downs. Or so it seemed. 20 Foxes turned up for their home fixture against Bishop Road. Trouble was, Bishop Road weren’t there. When they did arrive, it was so late that this, combined with early leaving commitments from 10 of our players meant that our squads effectively picked themselves. Despite the potential for slight imbalance, we still fielded two strong teams.

Match 1
Squad: Josh, Caston, Billy, Matthew Y, Matthew-Jaye, Benji, Brody, Jamie, Jack, William LP.

On a large pitch we played 8-a-side and all were under instruction to use the space and play it wide. By contrast, Bishop Road adopted the “8-man-defence” tactic. For reasons that remain a mystery, the Foxes seemed to abandon the team passing game that they can play so well and decided it was every man for himself. Perhaps over-confidence was to blame. The result was a crowded middle of the pitch and a messy game with far too many attempts to dribble through the entire defence even when support players were available in space.

Attack after attack came to nothing. There was not a single cross in the first half and shots were taken from impossible angles when easier options went begging. Eventually our profligacy became our downfall. A quick counter attack, Bishop Road’s only real attack of the entire game, resulted in them taking the lead.

After half-time, we did improve, as Billy and Caston stayed wide and our midfield, led by Matthew-Jaye, tried to pass our way out of trouble. The game started to flow better and we were rewarded when Josh made the only cross of the day for Matthew-Jaye to score an equalizer. Despite dominating, we continued to dribble when passing was the better option and the game finished in a draw. Bishop Road celebrated as if they had won the cup and who can blame them?

Result Foxes 1: Bishop Road 1

Man of the Match: Matthew-Jaye for a stand-out performance in midfield and a well-taken goal.

Match 2
Squad: Oskar, Eddie, William W, Sam, Henry, Ludo, Joseph, Harrison, Stanley, Caleb.

Different team, same instructions, completely different result. From the whistle, our midfield of Sam, Henry and Ludo completely controlled the game. Our defence was superbly marshaled by Eddie, William, Caleb and Oskar. And our strike force of Stanley, Harrison and Joseph created chances and scored self-less goals almost at will.

We took the lead immediately and then set about scoring goal after goal. Despite the risk of disruption from regular substitutions, we dominated completely – everyone playing their part in a fantastic team performance. The 10 goals were richly deserved and well taken:
1. Ludo – a great individual effort started in midfield.
2. Harrison – finishing a cross from Joseph after Sam had won the ball.
3. Harrison – a tap in after Henry won the ball in the middle and Joseph supplied the final pass.
4. Sam – finishing off a great team move.
5. Ludo – starting the move with a great dribble in midfield before laying off to Harrison and finishing the return cross.
6. Joseph – a great finish after Stan cut in to supply Henry for the final pass.
7. Joseph – another move that began with Ludo’s pass to Stanley for the cross.
8. Stanley – a brilliant volley to finish a lofted cross from Joseph after Henry had supplied the first pass. The goal of the game.
9. Harrison – his hat-trick goal from a lovely pass by Oskar out wide.
10. Joseph – his hat-trick goal, a tap in from another Oskar cross.

A superb display of passing, crossing and finishing from a team that played for each other throughout, and was never threatened. Well done!

Result Foxes 10: Bishop Road 0

Man of the Match – William W for a comprehensive display of defensive football, snuffing out any danger before it could develop.