Year 4 vs Bishop Road

A dry and mild winter's morning found the Y4 Foxes boys away at Bishop Road's hidden gem of a home field, a flat and spacious green sward tucked away off the main road.

With only one pitch available, and 20 players in two equally strong squads of 10, there were four back to back matches. Foxes waiting for a game divided their time on the sidelines between light skills practice, spectating and a bit of training with Raul and Jacob's dog Bingo (who showed good pace and tackling, and may start against Rockleaze next week).

The first squad to play got off to a poor start, conceding an early goal from a swift attack up the middle. They battled hard for an equaliser, but struggled to create clear-cut scoring opportunities, several attacks foundering due to a lack of passing and Bishop Road's strong defence. Bishop Road got a second midway through the second half, and while the Foxes picked up their efforts towards the end and came a little bit closer, it was too late to close the gap. In the end, Bishop Road deserved their 2-0 win.

The second squad then battled out a tough, evenly balanced 0-0 draw. Both sides had plenty of possession, and the odd chance, but strong tackling in the midfield was the story of this game.

The first squad then returned for their next match. This was a far better game, goalless at half time and too close to call, but BR got the breakthrough shortly after the second half began. Again, the Foxes laboured to create clear chances despite having an increasing share of possession. BR remained dangerous, forcing a great slow motion palmed save round the post from Danny, and eventually bundled in a second with the last kick of the game. 2-0 again, but a much closer match.

The final match provided the best spectacle. In a rather one-sided first half, the Foxes hung on to get to 0-0 at the break, with two goal line clearances and several waves of BR attacks repelled. The second half proved a different story. BR struck early to go one up, but from then on it was the Foxes' turn to pile on pressure, with Joey and Jack C in particular orchestrating constant attacks. Again, it seemed as if the Foxes might never score, with the final pass just lacking on several occasions, but finally a sustained spell of possession ended with Joey blasting in the equaliser from outside the box. Thereafter it was a green and white onslaught, with six consecutive corner kicks at one point, until time ran out with the score 1-1.

Overall, an excellent morning's football between two closely matched sides, but Bishop Road edged it through their superior passing and team play.
Players of the week were Aidan (from the first squad) and Jack T (from the second), both of whom were outstanding in the tackle and snuffed out several attacks and potential goals