Match Reports from 3rd November
Men’s 1st XI 6-1 Harborne
Goals: Alex Press (2), Steve Williams, Joe Kopka (2), Christian Howard
The first team hosted Harborne hoping to return to winning ways after last week’s disappointing draw to bottom of the league Sutton. Harborne were one place below Saints going into the Fixture after a string of impressive results against tough opposition so the game promised to be a tight one.
Saints enjoyed the majority of possession early on and the defence of Jamie Webb, Adam Croutear and Sean Henry held very firm against any Harborne attack. It wasn’t long before Saints took the lead. A quick attack down the right resulted in Press crossing for Steve Williams to cleverly deflect the ball past the keeper. Minutes later Alex Press double the lead from close range after his bobbled shot squeezed under the Harborne keeper. As the half went on possession evened out between the two sides but it was still Saints who looked more threatening. Another quick break away after Press stole the ball in midfield resulted in Joe Kopka scoring from close range to make it 3-0.
Five minutes before half time Jamie Webb was unlucky to see yellow for ‘chat’ to the umpires. Harborne made their numerical advantage pay when they pulled a goal back from a short corner. 3-1 is always a risky score line to end the half on but Saints didn’t rest there. With one minute to go Saints broke from midfield and after good play from Dave Saunders and Steve Williams, Joe Kopka restored Saints three goal advantage to end the half 4-1.
The second half was a more scrappy affair with Harborne committing men forward and Saints breaking with pace at every opportunity. Mike Joyce and Guy Roberts both put in solid displays at the back and their experience was important as Harborne started to pressure the home side defence. With the defence holding firm at the back it gave the pacey Saints forwards a chance to break away and put the game out of reach with a 5th goal, this time it was Christian Howard bagging his third goal in three games. As the game drew to a close, Saints controlled things well in midfield with tireless work from Dave Saunders and Gareth Parker. The home side were able to add another late on after another trademark break away, Press getting his second of the game from three yards out.
A well-earned 6-1 victory was no less than Saints deserved as they put away a strong ex national league side. Rising to 5th in the table, Saints have the chance to go 4th if they win away at West Bridgford this coming Saturday but it will be a sterner test.
The first team would like to thank all the supporters that came to watch. It does make a big difference.
Squad: Paul Madeley (GK), Sean Henry, Jamie Webb, Adam Croutear, Guy Roberts, Mike Joyce, Ben Scott (c), Dave Saunders, Gareth Parker, Christian Howard, Steve Williams, Jon Noble, Alex Press, Joe Kopka.
Men’s 2nd XI 2-0 Edgbaston 2nd XI
Goals: Dan Whittaker, Greg Summers
On arrival, our team talk in the changing rooms hit home, a loss is out of the question and a draw isn’t good enough…win was the only option! Whilst the team talk was motivating the majority of the team, others began to lose focus by admiring the beautiful artwork that a previous tenant of the changing had amusingly drawn on the wall. By the time we had made it out of the changing rooms all childish antics had been left behind and the training session and the match that followed was the only two things on our mind. It wasn’t until an arena change to the neighbouring water based pitch that the last of the lethargic attitude towards was finally removed from the team as well as a huge wakeup call from a few splashes in the face from the finally working water cannon that the match was finally ready to get underway.
Needless to say we looked the stronger team from the off. Our passing was simple, our tackles were pin point and clean and our aerials were bypassing the oppositions backline. In the matter of minutes saints had taken the match to hand and scored our first goal from the skipper himself Dan Whittaker, something he enjoyed reminding us of long after the match had ended! Saints had many great opportunities in the first half with the inclusion of a dubious back stick call from the umpire denied Alex Blunt a spot on the score sheet, as did a near miss drag flick from Danny Whitfield from a short corner. An eventful 1st half saw injuries for both teams, one at the hands of, Ben Northedge with a high stick catching the forehead of the opposing player, who luckily avoided the umpire’s book. Chris Reid was forced to remove himself from the match very early on due to becoming another victim of a poor warm up, but was still a valuable asset to the team from the side line being our stand in manager for our vacant Tom Hewitt.
Under a lot of pressure saints were caught a few times idling in the last minutes of the 1st half and the majority of the 2nd half, but a sound performance from both keeper Robin Sawyer and stand in centre back Lewis Ward ensured saints to achieve three clean sheets in as many games. Nigh was the match and players on both sides were showing obvious signs of fatigue and tiredness, one player in particular was Ally Rose who for the majority of the match was distributing the ball comfortably showing his broad set of skills, however refusal to come off the pitch and digging deep for 70minutes showed from some horrible stick tackles.
Time was nearly up and again signs of fatigue showed from both sides as was proven when Greg Summers pounced on a poor pass by the Edgebaston defence manoeuvred his way around the goalkeeper and practically walked the ball into the back of the net. Other solid performances were shown by Jack Pogson, Tom Wightman and Matt Gausden, All in all a good win and comfortable 3rd place position.
MOTM: Greg Summers for a dominant display and well taken goal on the wing and up front.
DOTD:Ben Northedge for numerous inappropriate comments
Squad: Robin Sawyer (GK), Danny Whitfield, Lewis Ward, Ally Rose, Chris Reid, Matt Gausden, Ben Northedge, Dan Whittaker (c), Sam Mitchell, Alex Blunt, Greg Summers, Jack Pogson, Tom Wightman
Men’s 3rd XI 0-3 Warwick University 3rdXI
Sharp, controlling and clinical…three words Saints weren’t this week. Warwick University presented more of a threat then their lowly winless position showed, however Saints did not help, giving the ball away far too cheaply. Andy Dale got spoken to for saying a bit too much, but this was as passionate as the half got. Warwick scored twice, both goals tap-ins, as the defence were unable to clear the ball.
Saints did up the tempo in the second half showing that they had a desire to win, but time and time again they were unable to get the final pass in. After being camped in the Warwick half, two or three short corners came and went. Saints knew it was not going to be their day when Warwick deflected in a short corner to score their third from what must have been only four shots all match.
One point from two games has shown Saints that they need to look for more than just possession, and start to dictate play on their terms if they are to improve on mid-table meritocracy this season.
MOTM: Will Gamble
DOTD: Will Gamble – for giving his mobile number when asked for his (shirt) number
Squad: Adam Powell (GK), George Rockell, James Miller, Jason Hillier, Andy Wade, Harry Stobart, Ian McIlwaine, Lewis moran, George Roberts, Luke Pibworth, Hugo Day, Andy Dale, Richard Whorton
Men’s 4th XI 5-0 Litchfield 4th XI
Goals: Luke Howard (3), Chris Godman (1), MaxDymmond (1)
The game started with the Saints 4th XI knowing it would be a challenging; up against Lichfield 4th team, second in the league and without a loss.
Pressure was on Lichfield’s defence for most of the first half but it stood strong. This remained unchanged until late in the first half when the Saints 4s were awarded a penalty stroke(for a foot on the goal line), Luke Howard stepped up to give them the lead going in to half time.
Going into the second half with the lead, Saints had plenty of confidence that they could keep the lead and retain a sixth clean sheet this season. Saints Started the half strongly, applying a lot of pressure onto Lichfield’s defence, another goal was almost certain. That goal shortly came with their passing play creating great chances for goals with Max Dymmond taking his chance with a lovely strike on goal from the penalty spot beating their unlucky goal keeper.
After plenty of horrendous challenges (Tom Dysko) and many chances, Chris Godman found himself in an ideal position; Lichfield’s goal keeper of his line slightly it was almost a certainty for Chris to score from top D but after a poor decision to go for the glory goal he found himself shocked as the ball drifted outside of the post. Saints are 2-0 up and producing plenty of pressure, it’s not long before Chris Godman is presented with another glorious opportunity, this time to be denied by the post to send the ball flying over the fence to land worryingly close to Dave Henry’s car.It seemed certainhe would score soon.
Another great move down the right side of the pitch from Dave Henry and Max Dymmond eventually leaving an open goal for Luke Howard’s to score. At this point Lichfield had started to gain a little momentum and fight back have numerous attacks but our defence still holding out and not letting a goal in and maintaining the clean sheet run. Once again Chris Godman found himself in a position for an opportunity to appear this time being successful in scoring. Finally! 4-0 and Saints 4s found themselves defending for a large part of the end of the second half, it was obvious that Lichfield really wanted a goal with almost constant waves of attacks. With saints unable to get out of their own half for a 5 minute period the chances of the clean sheet being kept were decreasing slowly. However with some saves from Scott Bashford and a solid performance from the defence a counter attack was soon organised, Steve Morris playing a lovely through ball for Luke Howard to run through nutmeg the last defending to find himself striking from the top of the D for the final goal of the game and his third for the day; he celebrated laying on the floor after falling on the shot. The game ended 5-0 to keep them top of the league by five points with a conceded goal or loss yet to come.
MOTM: Luke Howard (Scoring three goals)
DOTD:Chris Godman (Nearly hitting Dave Henrys car and missing ‘open goals’).
Squad: Scott Bashford (GK), Matt Candler, Jeremy Wang, Gary Paterson, James Ruse, Chris Godman, Steve Morris, Ant Condon, Dave Henry(c), Luke Howard, Tom Dysko, Rob Tee, Max Dymmond.
Men’s 5thXI 0 – 2 Beeston 5thXI
Saints faced a tough challenge with a bare 11 men against a Beeston side in a similar league position to themselves.
With a new look defence made up of a centre back Adam Morgan and 5s debutant Joe Wightman (who put in an impressive performance), Saints started to build well from the back, moving the ball about and creating good attacks using the left and right wings of Alex Jeffrey and Ricard Price. Unfortunately, the remainder of the match events are being kept under the Official Secrets Act. What is allowed to be said is that Phil Preen pulled out some stellar saves in goal and Saints bombarded the opposition 25 but were unable to get anything from the game.
MOTM: Phil Preen for some spectacular charges to keep the goal difference down
DOTD: Ali Townsend for trying to umpire the game whilst playing it.
Squad: Phil Preen (GK), Joe Wightman, Adam Morgan, Karl McGregor, Ali Townsend, Ricard Price, Gareth Voss, Krish Jasinarachchi, Alex Jeffrey, Rob Cary, Ed Arnold (C).
Beeston 4-2 Men’s 6th XI
Goals: Finn Pickard, Liam Cassidy
Once again a lack of squad players cost the 6’s dearly in a tough away game against a well drilled Beeston side. Travelling with only 11 the 6’s were already 2-0 down in the opening 15 minutes to two well taken goals when both RichardSmithand Dermot Cassidy picked up injuries which slowed them both down a bit. The fact that Beeston and their own team did not really notice any difference is testament to the fine pre-season conditioning both players took part in at O’Niells fitness emporium and ale house under the coaching of Tony Brennan (lets’ do a shot they have less calories).
As the half wore on the deeper lying defence started to deny Beeston space in the corners and the 6’s mounted a few attacks on the break, young Liam Cassidy showed that he was slightly more mobile than his Dad and broke into the D to slip a pass to a wide open Finn Pikard who slotted the chance away. Finnhad earlier created a half chance for himself running past three defenders and the goalie however he was pushed too wide to get an accurate shot on goal. Half time it was 2-1 and the walking wounded were still in the game.
The second half started evenly however Beeston still had most of the possession and always looked dangerous, with the 6’s playing on the break. Against the run of play slightly Liam equalised from a corner and for a while Beeston were rattled however their extra squad players and the experience that they had in the side started to show and they scored two goals in the last 15 minutes to secure the points. Some good individual performances from the team with Finnmaking some good runs and creating problems and John Bennett and Dermot at the back made some timely tackles. Phil Adams put in some solid practice for his upcoming audition for Disney on Ice as he tried to clean the astro with his rear on numerous occasions.
MOTM: Finn Pikard
DOTD: Phil “Bambi” Adams
Men’s 7th XI 7-0 Nottingham 6th XI
Goals: Connor Wright, Ian Street, OG, Sooraj Premsagar, Jack Knight, Josh Pibworth, Charlie Graham.
The magnificent 7s travelled to Goosedale, north of Nottingham for this weeks’ fixture. After a pretty grim and miserable drive up the M1 the sun finally came out as the team arrived at the pitch. Unfortunately it took a little bit longer for the 7s to get up to speed on pitch. A very shaky first 20 minutes going into the game, and the side looked like they are going to have a tough fixture. The midfield seemed to be trying to perform their own interpretation of a bad fireworks display by shooting off in random directions up the pitch with no particular direction or coordination. Eventually the team settled in and started to get a bit more control of the game. Several forays into the D and a few chances went begging, but the momentum was with saints. A couple of well struck shorts were stopped by the post man on the right. Eventually the pressure was converted into a goal by Connor Wright, who slapped in a shot on the back post from a testing pass across the goal. Saints went to half time holding their 1 goal advantage.
Some stern words at half time about playing to make sure the team seal win seemed to pay dividends and from the outset of the second half the 7s were much more dominant. Nottingham were pressed hard back into their own half. An early goal fromIan Street opened the floodgates. Jon Keep managed to cause an own goal when his cross to Jack Knight was mishit by a defender straight into the goal. Charlie Graham, Josh Pibworth and Jack Knight all picked up passes near to the goal to find their way onto the scoresheet, but the goal of the day went to Sooraj Premsagar, who managed to steal the ball from the opposition centre back on the edge of the D and run it round him before flicking a beautiful shot straight into the right of the goal. Jack Knight’s keenness to score again showed through when following another goal, instead of retreating back to halfway he charged headlong into the opposition D to be ready for the next chance, earning himself several DoD votes. Likewise Rob Frost managed to do well avoiding getting onto the scoresheet, unfortunately missing a few ‘sitters’ – that first goal is still elusive for Rob.
The game finished 7-0 – a fantastic first win for the magnificent 7s.
MoM – Nigel Riches for solid defending throughout.
DoD – Sooraj Premsagar – for a ‘special’ ariel ball from the sideline that was intended to go across the pitch, but ended up going back up the pitch and fortunately landed at Michael Dickens feet!
Squad: Dean Gibson (GK), Ian Street, Martin Skinner, Nigel Riches, Michael Dicken, Joshua Pibworth, Jon Keep (c), Sooraj Premsagar, Connor Wright, Jack Knight, Rob Frost, Charlie Graham