19th December 2020 by Ben Puzey
We started the first quarter confidently moving the ball around quickly and finding our teammates with accurate passes. Despite this, chances for both teams were fairly limited and it required an exceptional solo run from Hal with a composed finish to break the deadlock. With our defence being well marshalled we were able to shut out their attack. The quarter finished 1-0 to us.In the second quarter, we rotated the team. In this quarter, Gloucester gained some momentum and were able to put some pressure on our goal. Although they weren’t able to create too many chances with Ben F frequently breaking up their attacks. However, all their possession paid off and they scored the only goal of the quarter, finishing the half evenly balanced at 1-1.
In the third quarter, Gloucester started to dominate and got 2 goals making it 3-1. As well as them scoring two goals, we were unable to string some simple passes together and that led to them counter attacking and then relying on our defence. Despite that, in the late stages of the period we turned ourselves around and we managed to get 2 goals. Straight from our centre, Alfie King and Theo played some 1-2s through the Gloucester team, which culminated in Alfie being put through to finish calmly. Our third goal was another fine solo effort this time from Sam, to make it 3-3 at the end of the quarter.
In the last quarter, we lost our rhythym and we were started playing in tight spaces, trying to string too many intricate passes in a crowded area and then losing possession. As well as us losing possession, we were too cramped up in the middle of the pitch which meant we were not able to play out wide and score. With them breaking up our play we were caught out at the back which lead to them scoring 2 goals to make it 5-3 at the end of the game. We felt disappointed at the end of the game as it was one we could have won had we been able to work our passes through the midfield with more urgency and more accuracy. Something we can work on after Christmas! Happy holidays….