Y5 v Rockleaze Rangers and Long Ashton 26 November

Y5 Foxes stutter in three-way fixture against Rockleaze and Long Ashton

The Foxes faced their fourth fixture in as many weeks and the first away games of the season. With Rockleaze only able to muster one team, Long Ashton were invited to join in what was to become a three-way fixture. Like Rockleaze, Long Ashton play league football and turned up with 2 squads. The Foxes saw Billy return to fitness and uncertainty over numbers meant our squad was again bolstered by Monty and Jude from Y4.

Rob’s Squad:
Brody, Matthew, William W, Billy, Eddie, Jarnell, Ewan, Tee-Jay, Joseph, William LP.

Formation for today's games is again 2-3-1 hoping to have a strong mid field, keep it tight at the back and attack quickly using the best forward player as the lone striker.

Match 1
Started the first game with Brodie in goal, Matthew and Billy in defence, Ewan, Eddy and William LP in mid field and Joseph operating as striker.

Result 0-3 to Rockleaze.

Match 2
In the second game against another Rockleaze side Matthew played most of the game in goal. William LP scored twice with Joesph and Eddy also grabbing goals.

Result 4-1 to the Foxes.

Match 3
In the final match against Long Ashton the game was evenly balanced with probably the Foxes slightly deserving a win. However, the result finished 0-0.

Simon’ Squad:
Rohan, Oskar, Jack, Jude, Monty, John, Josh, Stanley, Harrison.

Delays caused by setting up pitches and trying to make sense of who was to play whom, meant that yet again we did not have chance for a proper warm up. Again we started slowly and this time never really got into our stride. Perhaps it was a fixture too far.

Match 1
The first match saw us take on a Long Ashton A squad that consisted of a team of mixed ages, including some that seemed very mature. Long Ashton started very well playing a good passing game with the benefit of the sloping pitch. Rohan was strong in goal, Jack and Oskar secure in defence and John, Josh, Harrison and Stanley provided what should have been a potent attack. But something did not quite click. Perhaps we were put off by new and bigger opposition. Whatever happened, we seemed to hesitate when we would normally challenge strongly. We also stuttered to get our passing and flowing attacks going. In the first half we went behind to a soft goal when Long Ashton took a corner and we were caught ball –watching. We improved in the second half and could have scored on several occasions including a long strike from Harrison that whistled over bar with the goalkeeper beaten. Rohan made some good saves and everyone pulled together but it was frustrating to see us lose against a team we could have beaten.

Result: Foxes 0: Long Ashton 1

Match 2
The second match was against the Long Ashton B squad. Monty took a turn in goal and Jude came on to show another strong midfield display. This time the Foxes played better but again their passing was not as strong as normal. Several chances went begging and frustration crept into the team. Against the run of play, we then went behind when a soft toe-poke from 15 m rolled into the goal. It was a shot Monty would normally have dealt with very easily but had left because Jack had told him to. At least they both saw the funny side of it later. At half time the Foxes all knew that they were the better team but just could not turn pressure into the breakthrough we needed. More chances followed but it was not to be. If last week we nearly thrashed a team 0-0, then this week we nearly thrashed a team 0-1. One we most definitely should have won.
Result: Foxes 0: Long Ashton 1

Match 3
The final match was against one of the Rockleaze Rangers teams. Again it was a team that any other day we would have filled our boots against. Again, we made it really hard work. Rohan and Oskar shared the goalkeeping duties and Monty partnered Jack in defence. John, Jude, Josh Harrison and Stanley took turns to provide our midfield and strike force. Monty deserves a special mention for a fantastic display in defence, snuffing out any attack and always looking to play in to the midfield and attack. The game followed a now familiar pattern of creating plenty of chance but never quite getting the goals we deserved. The only goal of the game came when Rohan crossed for Josh to take a shot. The keeper got in the way but it rebounded and Josh followed up to put it in the back of the net. Not the scoreline we deserved but at last the Foxes got some reward for their hard work.
Result: Foxes 1: Rockleaze Rangers 0

Man of the Match:
Tee-Jay for brilliant all-round performance
Matthew for a superb save when in goal and for playing on when winded.
Monty for peerless defensive display

Played 6, won 2 drew 1 lost 3