MATCH REPORT : RED 5th December

BONALY 4 - 4 RED


The red team travelled to a very wet Bonaly with the Blue team to take on a couple of really excellent Bonaly teams. REDs were looking for revenge as their opponents (Bonaly Yellow) had squeezed out the BLUE team the previous week in an exciting 5-4 game.


Once again the RED coaches wanted the RED team to make a good start to match. The pre-match warm up meant everyone had to be on their toes (literally) but in the driving rain it looked like the RED team were struggling with the conditions.

(Hector during the 'warm up'!)

Jack volunteered to start in goals, Ollie and Hector continued their defensive duties, Kjartan, Struan and a returning Danny took up the midfield places, Ali the striker (hat-trick last week) took his place upfront. Eyvindur started as a sub alongside the debutant Joseph Bartlett who looked cold, nervous and excited all at the same time!


Usual last minute instructions - goalies get out to defenders quickly, defenders take the ball forward and out wide, midfield look to help your defenders and try to get down the wing, strikers don't stand around with your hand in the air, come and get the ball and help your midfield players. Right? Yes! Good start this week? Definitely!


It took about 2 minutes for the RED team to find themselves 2-0 down! First, some poor marking from the normally sound defence saw Bonaly striker in the box with miles of space and his shot left Jack with no chance. 1-0 Bonaly.


The referee issued some strange instructions banning the goalkeepers from kicking the ball - and our defensive players were suddenly under as tremendous amount of pressure. More confusion in the box - far better defending - but with an extra player arriving from midfield Bonaly scored their second goal in a minute with a deflected drive from the edge of the area. 2-0 Bonaly.

(Ollie had his hands full in the first few minutes!)

Oh dear, same old story from the RED team. Really poor start. Jack kept things from getting worse with a series of great saves and Bonaly looked to end the game within the first 5 minutes! Slowly, slowly, slowly the RED team remembered where they were. Players started marking and tackles starting being won. Struan picked up the ball on the edge of the RED box and took off down the wing. We were out of our own half for the first time! Struan carried on running and skipping past the last defender he fired in a shot from tight angle which the goalkeeper saved well. At least we got the ball out of our half and into theirs.

(Struan gets the ball out of our half, away end looks full!)

Next it was Danny's turn to get forward. Some nice play out of defence from Ollie got the ball out wide to Danny. Danny used some great skill in midfield and was soon flying down the left. A quick pass to Kjartan brought another shot and suddenly we had a game on our hands! The away end felt a little happier.

(Danny shows great skill in midfield!)

The game was flowing from end to end now. Some great play from Hector in defence saw another Bonaly attack fizzle out. Hector (having another excellent game) then passed to Danny who took off at the Bonaly defence, Danny passed inside to Kjartan who played the ball through to Ali. Ali took a couple of touches and fired a nice shot on goal from a tight angle. Oh, just wide!


Bonaly looked dangerous in attack though. Somehow they always seemed to have an extra player breaking from midfield. After a period of RED pressure a break from Bonaly resulted in a fine shot past Jack. Disaster.  3-0 Bonaly.

Oh dear - we didn't deserve that. What we really need now was a goal or two or three. Eyvindur and Joseph were introduced to try to turn things around. Joseph looked great in midfield and really likes to tackle! Some Bonaly players will probably still remember bumping into Joseph.  Eyvindur linked midfield to attack very well indeed.

(An excellent debut from Joseph!)

A great tackle from Ollie in defence set up Struan to take the ball out and away from goal. A great run on the right from Struan was supported by Kjartan and Danny through the middle. They distracted the defenders enough to allow Struan to beat the last defender and send a great shot into the net. Great dribbling, great support play, great shot, great goal. 3-1 Bonaly.


What we really needed to do now was hold on to half time, start the second half well and an early goal would get us right back into the match. What we really didn't want to happen was for Bonaly to pour forward, swamp the defence and in a scramble force the ball over the line...which was exactly what happened. 1-4 Bonaly.

The RED team refused to give up - a couple of nice breaks from Danny set up Ali.  Ali did really well with a bit of great skill cut inside the defender and fired in a tremendous shot that hit the post.  Another break from Hector set up Ali who this time fired an excellent shot at goal.  The goalie blocks but the rebound fell nicely to Ali, little chip over the goalie...ooooh, onto the top of the bar!  So close.  Excellent play though!

Final action from the first half saw some nice wing play from Struan set up Ali.  Ali provded a great cross into the middle but just behind Kjartan.  With an excellent show of confidence Kjartan adjusted himself and attempted an unbelievable overhead kick.  Just over the bar!  Amazing.

(Nice play out wide from Struan!)

Ref blows for half time.  Dearie me, the score doesn't look good.


One thing about the RED team is that they like a challenge! At half time the coaches reminded them to mark players not just watch the ball, keep trying to pass and don't be afraid to shoot if you get the chance. Oh, and start the second half better than the first! Quick calculation from Ali declared that we only needed 3 goals to get a draw and 4 for a win. We like that spirit!


The second half started with Danny volunteering to go in goals, Ollie and Hector at the back, Jack, Kjartan and Ali in midfield and Struan up front. Joseph, who finished the first half really well (and a little wet) and Hector, who played extremely well in the first half, started on the bench.


Ali's powerful running from midfield in the second half, together with Jack's excellent positioning meant that Bonaly had a few new problems to contend with. Eyvindur was soon introduced and his all action style was also causing Bonaly some trouble. Then Joseph came on.  He was growing in confidence and continued the second half as he ended the first - some excellent tackles and great passing in very difficult conditions (did we mention it was freezing cold)?


Wave after wave of RED attacks kept the Bonaly goalkeeper busy. 1-4 down though and it was proving difficult to get the goal we needed.  Suddenly the ball fell to Struan in the box, he neatly faked a shot with his left, took the ball onto his right and fired home. 2-4 Bonaly. They couldn't - could they?


Ollie now moved into midfield and poor Hector had to cope with any Bonaly breaks on his own. To be fair Jack, Ollie and Joseph were brilliant at covering back from midfield during the second half. Danny was playing in defence as well as in goals so the RED team were able to push forward at every opportunity!


Another scramble in the box. Shot from Kjartan blocked. Shot from Struan blocked. Shot from Ollie blocked (yes Ollie was in the opposition penalty area!). Shot from Ali blocked. Ball falls to Jack - goal! 3-4 Bonaly.

(Jack grabbed the third, RED's were back in the game!)

They couldn't - could they?


By now the away end were going bonkers! Surely this RED team couldn't complete yet another memorable comeback? Constant pressure now - another couple of team changes saw Eyvindur and Joseph spend the few minutes on the bench, yelling encouragement at their team, with Hector and Ollie returning to the action! Only a couple of minutes to go but the RED team spirit and Eyvindur's enthusiasm caused hilarious confusion. Corner to the RED team. Eyvindur, the sub, ran off to get the ball back quickly and placed it by the corner flag. His team mates assumed he was taking it so all ran into the middle. Poor Eyvindur had to stand there waving his hands in the air trying to tell everyone he couldn't take it! Great enthusiasm though!


At least the delay gave Danny The Goalie the chance to run up to the edge of the opposition box as the RED team did everything to get the equaliser. The corner came to nothing but a quick scamper back from Danny saw an end to any Bonaly danger. Was there time for one final attack? Oh yes!


Throw in from Jack, some nice passing from Kjartan and Ali. A great turn and shot from Jack, blocked. Some skill from Struan, a shot, blocked. The rebound?! "Shoot! Kick it! Put it in!" shouted the entire away end. Struan shifts the ball to his right and shoots. "...get in..." we shout. The ball flies into the net despite a despairing attempted block from the defender. A hat-trick from Struan! Cue much leaping around in the away end and lots of celebratory sliding on knees on the pitch.

(Struan scored the equaliser with the last kick of the game!)

The ref has seen enough and the full time whistle goes! The RED coaches sit down, exhausted. 4-4.


What a game!  The spirit shown by the whole RED team is unbelievable. They refuse to be beaten and goodness only knows how good they would be if they could start games as well as they finish.  Outstanding debut from Joseph - brilliant!  Excellent defensive and midfield play from Hector and Ollie.  Superb midfield play from Eyvindur and Kjartan.  Amazing striking and midfield performances from Ali and Struan (hat-trick!).  What can you say about Jack and Danny?  Excellent everywhere!  Jack scored in the second half and kept us in the game in the first half.  Danny was brilliant in goals in the second half and managed to combine being goalie, defender and striker at the same time!

Well played everyone!