Saturday 4th January, Broadbridge Heath Bears 1 v 1 Loxwood Magpies
First of all a very happy new year to all our readers!! So, following a few weeks off we took the opportunity to organise a friendly against Broadbridge Heath Bears. These guys play in the Horsham league so this was an opportunity to pitch ourselves against a team we hadn't played before, and also to burn some of those extra Christmas calories before the league starts again the following week.
It was certainly a worthwhile exercise to play a competitive game following the Christmas break, and the experience was made all the more worthwhile with the hosts opening up their seniors' first team stadium for our use. It really was a lovely playing surface and very professional surroundings so a great environment to play football in.
The first half kicked off with both teams taking some time to settle with chances few and far between. Mid way through the half and a Broadbridge Heath strike was destined for the roof of the net before a stunning reflex save came from Charlie Davies to palm the ball over the bar. Then a few minutes later and Charlie again came to the rescue in a chase for a long through ball to get to the ball first and clear to safety. Then in a rare break Rowan ran clear following a through ball from Tom but a defender came through to clear just as he was about to pull the trigger. And then just before half time the bears had another good chance but could only hit the post.
So 0-0 at half time. Into the second half and the pattern of the game was Broadbridge Heath having the possession without creating many clear chances. Midway through the first half Broadbridge had a corner which wasn't dealt with and the ball dropped to a free man who prodded home for 1-0. This was then shortly followed by another chance when a header was brilliantly saved by Charlie off the line.
The whites were by this time looking quite jaded with some tired legs so could they come back from 1-0 down? A few subs to freshen things up seemed to generate some much-needed energy and then some good play by Liam in the middle to release Michael who turned it to Rowan for a finish but the ball got stuck at his feet and the chance was gone. Close !! The momentum was now with Loxwood however, and Michael was again sent through for a one on one with the keeper but his shot went agonizingly wide. Then a tactical switch with Liam moving to midfield and Ethan moving to defence yielded its fruit as Liam beat 3 players, was fouled twice but still found the composure to chip the keeper from outside the box. What a lovely goal!!
With moments left it was Loxwood on the up but no-one could find the spark to find a winner. So it was all square at the end and 1-1. All in all a good game, and considering the whites had a number of key players missing a good result against a strong side that should set us up well for not only next week but for the rest of 2020.
Man of the match was a close one this week between Liam with his stunning goal and Charlie Davies but it goes this week to Charlie with a string of excellent saves that kept Loxwood in the game. Well done Charlie!!
First of all a very happy new year to all our readers!! So, following a few weeks off we took the opportunity to organise a friendly against Broadbridge Heath Bears. These guys play in the Horsham league so this was an opportunity to pitch ourselves against a team we hadn't played before, and also to burn some of those extra Christmas calories before the league starts again the following week.
It was certainly a worthwhile exercise to play a competitive game following the Christmas break, and the experience was made all the more worthwhile with the hosts opening up their seniors' first team stadium for our use. It really was a lovely playing surface and very professional surroundings so a great environment to play football in.
The first half kicked off with both teams taking some time to settle with chances few and far between. Mid way through the half and a Broadbridge Heath strike was destined for the roof of the net before a stunning reflex save came from Charlie Davies to palm the ball over the bar. Then a few minutes later and Charlie again came to the rescue in a chase for a long through ball to get to the ball first and clear to safety. Then in a rare break Rowan ran clear following a through ball from Tom but a defender came through to clear just as he was about to pull the trigger. And then just before half time the bears had another good chance but could only hit the post.
So 0-0 at half time. Into the second half and the pattern of the game was Broadbridge Heath having the possession without creating many clear chances. Midway through the first half Broadbridge had a corner which wasn't dealt with and the ball dropped to a free man who prodded home for 1-0. This was then shortly followed by another chance when a header was brilliantly saved by Charlie off the line.
The whites were by this time looking quite jaded with some tired legs so could they come back from 1-0 down? A few subs to freshen things up seemed to generate some much-needed energy and then some good play by Liam in the middle to release Michael who turned it to Rowan for a finish but the ball got stuck at his feet and the chance was gone. Close !! The momentum was now with Loxwood however, and Michael was again sent through for a one on one with the keeper but his shot went agonizingly wide. Then a tactical switch with Liam moving to midfield and Ethan moving to defence yielded its fruit as Liam beat 3 players, was fouled twice but still found the composure to chip the keeper from outside the box. What a lovely goal!!
With moments left it was Loxwood on the up but no-one could find the spark to find a winner. So it was all square at the end and 1-1. All in all a good game, and considering the whites had a number of key players missing a good result against a strong side that should set us up well for not only next week but for the rest of 2020.
Man of the match was a close one this week between Liam with his stunning goal and Charlie Davies but it goes this week to Charlie with a string of excellent saves that kept Loxwood in the game. Well done Charlie!!
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