Starlands Elite played Starlands Mets in yet another CUP POOL GAME.
RICK & ROBS Boys played in Orange ( Elite) whilst Matts Mets played in Blue.
From the Kick Off Elite were down to 8 players with Kai unaware of the kick off time, Nick away and Luke with a horrendous Scouting Soft Ball injury...within minutes Marcus came off...The cause is unknown but sources close to the player stated he had a slight groin injury...not related to playing with the girls team. Get well soon !
So, we were down to a bare bones 7 players against a well drilled and trained Mets team.
Elite did their best to thwart the attacks - with EVERY player barr none giving 100% for the team.
Ben was called into play early on having to come off his line and clear the ball with a kick down field. This pattern continued for a while, but on one occassion Ben came out as the forward swooped down on goal chased by Callum...as all three drew closer...Ben won the race to the ball...but rather than dive at the feet of the on rishing players he opted to kick clear....unfortunately the ball rebounded off one of the two outfield players and went into the goal to make it 1-0....similar to LUKAKU's goal a few seasons ago for WBA.
It was always going to be hard with 2 players less - but give the boys credit they battled bravely and never gave Mets time to settle and play the ball about.
Elite were probably aided by the heavy mud soaked pitch which prevented Mets from playing their usual football.
At time ELite moved the ball around nicely , with Aran playing some nice balls through to Azza,Oscar and Josh upfront. YES...with only 7 players we still played with 3 upfront...and to be fair it nearly paid off...but in reality the Mets keeper was never really tested with a shot on target.
ELites best opportunity came from a counter attack. Oscar fed the ball to Josh who had a shot from the edge of the box that beat the keeper for power and pace but went agonisingly wide...I was convinced there was a hole in the net !...GUTTED...Going into the break 1-1 would have been a magnificent effort.
Ben came off his line to clear the ball on a number of occassions...and only had to make ONE actual save from a shot...which just shows how well the boys did to track back and defend.
Credit to Kieron who sprinted back helping out Callum...He saved the day on more than one occassion...Aran likewise....and even Azza and Oscar helped out when they could...
Elite had a number of corners in the second half....but the ball just didnt fall to an ELite player to have a clear shot on target.
One opportunity with a lovely pass put Josh clean through only to be flagged dubiously off side...But, saying that with the best will in the world...it would have been a country mile for Josh to have run and scored.
It was a great game,....fiesty at times with Callums pal from Walmley Cricket sliding in with tackles and then elbowing him to the ground...No harm done...and sure Callum will ping some fast bowls down at winter nets tonight ! WATCH OUT ;)
ELITE I dont think deserved to win...and we didnt ! .....But they certainly deserved a draw from the game - and now find themselves looking for a win v Falcons to save face....
But as I said last week - I for one have really enjoyed the last 3 games regardless of the result...the games have been very close and even...played in a good spirit...all the boys have given 100% and enjoyed themselves.
On another day...I think we might have nicked a win... Watch out next season Mets...You might be in our League??.....
Oscar once again narrowly missed out on Man Of The Match for a Hatrick of wins...ALL the Boys deserved credit...So, I have awarded ALL 10/10 Rating that played.
QUite rightly Callum won Man of The Match - and as you can see from the Team Photos below...He was REALLY excited to win....C'mon Callum Give us SMILE :) Fantastic battling performance...never stopped ! Brilliant attitude and that goes for all the boys.
Well done Mets !...Good luck with the other games in the cup.
