Our 65+ squad played some of their best football of the season in the group stage round of the Asha Healthcare Midlands 65+ Cup today in Derby.
Facing three games in the group and needing to finish in the top two places to progress to the semi finals in September, the Strollers sailed through with two wins and a draw in their group.
Game 1: Strollers 2 Loughborough 1 (o.g., Hall)
Our lads looked lively from the start of this one and soon had Loughborough, who beat is 5-1 in the league last month, under pressure. The score was opened by a mix up in the Loughborough defence leading to an own goal, the keeper left helpless as the ball trickled into the net.A short while later, a loose pass at the other end saw Loughborough hit back to 1-1.With time drawing short, Taff Lovesey received the ball and was able to slide a pass into the path of Phil Hall, who tucked a well hit shot into the net.
Game 2: Strollers 0 Hucknall 0
In discussion afterwards, a few of us felt we actually played our best football in this game even though we didn’t find the net. With our 1-3-1 formation, Colin Murrant looked solid at the back, and the midfield trio of Hall, Marsden and Forth, worked hard to shut down the opponents and also to feed the ball into the feet of Lovesey up front. Two warnings against Hall saw Brian Dunkerley join the midfield and the formation stayed solid and kept its shape even after this enforced change. We have a number of shots in this game but the Hucknall keeper stood solid and the game finished goalless.
Game 3: Strollers 1 Boston 0 (Hall)
Another solid performance, continuing the form shown in the earlier games. As always, the game against our pals at Boston proved a tight affair and the game was decided when Lovesey, once again, fed in Hall behind the Boston defence. A measured, accurate shot into the corner of the net resulted and gave us all three points.
We now moved to a semi final game in late September to play the runners up from the other group (probably Matlock).
Squad:
· Peter Oppenheimer
· Tim Marsden
· Taff Lovesey
· Dave Forth
· Colin Murrant
· Phil Hall
· Brian Dunkerley
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