Men’s 1st XI 7-1 Sutton Coldfield 1st XI

 

Goals: Dave Saunders, Alex Press, Joe Skinner, Christian Howard (2), James Knibb, Ben Scott,

 

Saints entered the match without a win in 8 games. The game against Sutton was a must win with both teams in the bottom four and level on six points.

 

Saints started the brightest and were in front within 5 minutes. Dave Saunders won the ball in midfield and burst through the Sutton defence before beating the keeper to open the scoring. Saints kept up the pressure and after good work down the right from Greg Summers and Joe Skinner the home side broke quickly with Alex Press deflecting in from close range.

 

Sutton won their first short corner halfway through the first half with Christian Howard seeing yellow at the same time. After an initial drag flick attempt was saved on the line, Sutton won a flick when the follow up hit a Saints foot on the goal line. 2-1 Saints and half time.

 

The first ten minutes of the were fairly evenly matched until a long break in play due to a Sutton head injury. Saints used the time wisely to regroup and regained their two goal cushion minutes after the restart. Ben Scott fed Ashley Smith on the Sutton 25 who played a pinpoint pass to Joe Skinner on the penalty spot. A smart turn and shot put Saints 3-1 up.

 

This gave Saints the momentum they needed to finally make a big score. The next goal came from a cleverly worked short corner with James Knibb finding Howard at the back post. 4-1.

 

The next goal came from Knibb as he cleverly lifted the ball over the advancing Sutton keeper before tapping into an empty net. Scott made the score 6-1 with a drag flick short corner and Howard wrapped up the game with his second just before the final whistle. A great team move involving Press, Summers and Scott Mahoney allowed Howard to finish at the back post.

 

A 7-1 win and a very impressive performance. Saints will be hoping to use this as a platform to turn things around this season. They visit Khalsa next week before the Christmas break.

 

 

 

 

 

Saints got off to the worst possible start in this game as they fell behind inside the first 10 minutes. The first half continued in similar vain, as they shipped a further 2 goals and looked completely off the pace.

The second half saw an improved performance as Harry York, Stuart Clark, Sam Mitchell all got on the scoresheet for Saints, sadly they conceded a further 3 goals to leave it 6-3 to Leek at full-time.

 

 

 

 

Saturday 22nd saw the dreaded fixture of Leek away and a trip north for the 4s, further north than some wish to venture. We turned up to a sunny Leek pitch with a few new faces in the team and a chance for some 4’s debutants to stake claim to a place going forward.

 

With DOD wrapped up before the game even starting through Albert Napper forgetting shoes we started slowly and conceded early on. With new names and faces in the team we struggled at first to string a set of passes together however were threatening on the counter and at 1-0 down we carved out a couple of chances knowing the next few goals were crucial. Unfortunately these went the wrong way and we very quickly found ourselves 3-0 down. To add to this we found ourselves down to 10 men when Nigel Down was on the wrong end of a yellow card, maybe he should try the Rob Tee method of hugging the umpires to avoid it next time?

 

At half time, despite being 3-0 down there was positivity in that we were causing them a few problems further up the pitch and thought there were definitely goals on the cards. Despite a valiant effort from the back four of Tim Riches, Jamie Cochrane, Matthew Bowden and Michael Dicken Leek continued to find spaces in the final third and managed to grab a early on in the second half. After this goal we showed glimpses of what we can do and exerted some pressure through some good running up front from Ali Bowden we created a couple chances and with some more clinical finishing the score line could have a very different look. With this extra attacking intent from Saint’s it gave Leek the chances on the counter and even with Michael Dickens impressive last ditch goal line saving we conceded a couple more leaving a final score of a disappointing 6-0.

With this fixture out of the way we look are looking forward to Edgbaston at fortress Moulton next weekend.

 

DOD – Despite Albert Napper’s & Nigel Down’s best efforts – Ed Arnold for choosing Twickenham over Leek away

 

MOM - Michael Dicken –Goal line save and battled hard at left back giving a really good showing on his first 4’s game of the season.

 

 

Mens 6th XI 3 – 1 Nuneaton 4th XI

The “world famous fighting sixes” turned up to face a struggling Nuneaton side with the hopes of getting their first win of the league campaign, and the hopes became a reality. Saints started the game the stronger of the two sides and after a number of short corners Mark Seward’s shot was blocked on the line by a defenders foot and a penalty stroke was awarded to the home team. Owain Mahoney step...ped up to the plate and took the flick with style, sending the keeper the wrong way and putting the ball into the top right hand side of the goal. Saints continued to dominate the first half with Fin Chacksfield, Matt Jenson and Owain Mahoney dominating the midfield, defenders Ian Street, Rob Goulding, Conor Rawlings and goalkeeper Pete Adey making sure that any breaks through that Nuneaton did make were cleanly dealt with. Just before the half time whistle went sixes doubled their lead through Mark Seward finishing nicely from a challenging angle.