Today was our second league game of the season against the Allstars, coming off the back of another defeat last week, allbeit in a friendly losing 3-0.
But this week was going to be different, this week it was Betley Tigers who were the ALL STARS, every last one them! The training, the exercise, the practice, is begining to pay off, as Betley out stripped the opposition in every area of the field, and the passing was a joy to watch.
Matt was not available this week but the rest of the squad was, so we began with 3 subs on the bench, all eager to have their say, Alex, Sam and Ben.
Betley kicked off and for the first 2 minutes, Allstars did not touch the ball, such was the passing game that Betley had begun, and in only the second minute, a through ball from Mark in the middle, set Bryan up with a scramble in the area which he duely poked in for our first of the season, 1 - 0! The team did not stop there, Arron, Ben, and Bryan in the middle, were passing from one side to another, then releasing Max up front, who was also being unselfish and looking for his team mates, brilliant!
Mark and Lol were like solid rocks, so much so, that Marks confidence allowed him to push further up the pitch, assisting in the passing game that we were all enjoying, Lol sniffed out the slightest hint of any attacks coming from the Allstars, the Betley crowd were loving it!
It was no surprise then, that in the 10th minute Tigers doubled the lead, yet another pass, pass, pass up the pitch, with Ben playing a slide rule pass into Max, who tucked the ball away inside the area, just reward for Max.
End of the first period, Betley, 2 - 0 up, could of been four or five, the second period saw 3 changes, Alex on for Mark, Sam on for Max and Ben on for Arron.
The team carried on as they left off, which was excellent, as the changes made meant that no disruption to the great flow of the game, and again, like the first period, an early goal was scored to make it 3 - 0. Bryan made a run down the right, played in a pass for Ben, who in turn, passed on to Sam, who stuck a low close shot in, another great team effort.
Allstars were now finding some ro0m, not much, but Alex and Lol played their own passing game with each other to get the team going again, Sam was holding the ball well and Ben Hinbest on the wing was getting up and down, covering the left flank well.
As the period drew to a close, Betleys superior play was rewarded with number four! A low corner from Ben, Bryan just about to score when an Allstar defender inadvertently stuck his leg out for an own goal!
In the final third period Bryan went in goal for Kai, who had admirably coped with the odd attack that got through our back line, Bryan continued his good work all over the pitch, with 3 good saves as Betley, not surprisingly , started to slow.
Mark had replaced Lol, and again got stuck into his role, Arron was back on the flanks terrorising down the wing, causing all sorts of mither. But the team was showing a few signs of stamina draining and Ben came back on to replace Ben!
In the last few minutes, Allstars scored a good goal, sweeping through the middle with the forward finishing well. It did not take any gloss of the performance though, and the score could, and should of been more, but lets not get greedy yet, and heres hoping that this fine performance from every one of them is carried into next week!
The season, is now well and truly up and running!!
Thank you for the fantastic support.
