Match Report - 15-03-08
Result : Whitegrove Pumas 1 - 2 Winnersh Rangers Vipers
It was a bright, cold, sunny morning for the home match with Winnersh Rangers Vipers. The Pumas had a full team. Alfie, Nick and Matty started on the subs bench, Rebecca (captain), Sam and Jack in defence, with Tom, Bradley, and Matthew at the front, whilst Kameron was in goal.
Bradley and Tom kicked off taking the ball into the Viper’s half. The Vipers defended well and went on to the attack. This led to an early goalmouth scramble at the Pumas goal, which was soon cleared by Jack.
Rebecca led a robust defence clearing the ball to the side, followed by Matthew clearing the ball behind the goal line for a corner. Although the Vipers won the first corner, Sam quickly won possession of the ball and made an excellent break down the line towards the Viper’s half. Unfortunately there was no one there to support him.
Rebecca remained the mainstay of the defence, clearing the ball down the line to Matthew who did an excellent cross to Bradley. But again the Pumas were swamped by the Vipers defence. The Vipers made a quick break into the Pumas half, crossing the ball to the other flank for a deadly strike at the Pumas goal. 1 - 0 to the Vipers.
Tom, Rebecca and Sam then came off, allowing Alfie, Nick and Matty to start.
The change of players, livened up the Pumas. Matty was raring to go and got stuck in tackling the Vipers and making a break up the field. Bradley won the Pumas their first corner, which was taken by Alfie. But the Vipers soon launched another strike forcing Kameron to dive for the ball as they tried to put another deadly cross across the penalty box.
The Pumas were soon back in the game with a brilliant long shot blasted on target by Bradley, which bounced off a Vipers defender. Matthew tried to quickly knock in the rebound, but it just went wide of the mark.
As the game moved back down towards the Pumas goal, Kameron grabbed the ball from the feet of a Vipers striker. As always Kameron did an excellent goal kick, putting the ball well into the Vipers half.
The Vipers later returned to win a corner, but Matthew denied them possession, making a break down the line. Matthew crossed the ball to Sam, who shot just wide of the goal.
It was then the Pumas turn for a corner. Alfie dropped the ball into the penalty box next to Matthew, who blasted the ball into the back of the net. 1 -1
The whistle blew for half time. The second half started with Bradley, Jack and Matthew on the subs bench.
The Vipers kicked off the second half and were soon stopped in their tracks with a tackle and excellent clearance up the field by Nick.
The Pumas were soon back attacking the Vipers goal, when Matty collided with the Vipers goalie. This bit of rough and tumble did not perturb the Pumas. Sam was soon chasing back down the line for a cross to Tom, who shot just wide of the goal.
The Pumas soon had everyone up front, when a Vipers striker broke away from the pack. Nick stormed back down the field like grease lightening (I’ve never seen him move so fast!). He tackled the Vipers striker just on the goal line and cleared the ball away for a corner.
Nick, Sam and Tom then came off to let Bradley, Jack and Matthew back on.
The Pumas then won a corner, which allowed Sam to shoot just wide of the Vipers goal.
But the Vipers didn’t give up, the game kept moving to and fro. The Vipers launched a long shot at the Pumas goal, which bounced out of Kameron’s hands and into the back of the net. 2 –1 to the Vipers.
Jack soon stormed back down the field, before being overcome by the Vipers defence. Then in the final few minutes, Bradley launched a final shot on target, which was stopped by the Viper’s goalie.
Man of the Match : Jack McGee ~ "for his all round play as defender and as forward, up and down the field".
1 Kameron Bains
2 Nicholas Flint (Nick)
3 Alfie Avis
4 Jack McGee
5 Rebecca Cole
6 Tom Hodge
7 Sam Bradford
8 Matthew Edgar (Matty)
9 Matthew Pearson
10 Bradley Dobson