Chantry Grasshoppers Friendly Match Report 20th September 2008

As this was a friendly we decided to mix things around a bit and try some players out in new positions. We started with Ollie S in goal, Connor S in defence, Matty, Charlie B and Will along the midfield, with Jack and Curtis up front. Cameron and Ollie Mac on the bench.
We got off to a flier and looked the better team. Jack scored after 6 minutes and added a second 2 minutes later.(apologies for the lack of detail arounfd the goals as I my notes are rubbish) I had a strong feeling there were plenty more goals to come. (I was right but more of that later!) We continued to press with Chantry getting more into the game. At half time we switched a few players around. Charlie and Matty came off. Cammy went into defence for the first time, Curtis moved to left midfield, with Will in the centre and Ollie Mac on the right. Connor moved from defender to striker. This is when the rest of the goals started to fly in. Unfortunately they were all chantry goals as we managed to turn a 2-0 lead into a 5-2 defeat. Chantry banged in a couple of good goals but were gifted several more as we started making mistakes all over the pitch. This is the whole point of friendlies. Get the mistakes out of the way when there is nothing at stake. A special mention must go to a couple of their fans for their outrageously over the top celebrations. The Chantry manager was a bit embarrassed to say the least. If ever we had inspiration to beat them in the league.....

Man of the match was Jack Moss for his work rate and passing. The goals are just a bonus.

B Game

This is my report. Freddie has written his own which I will post word for word. If any of the boys want to send me their views on a match I'll post them on the site. Maybe Jack can fill me in on his goals from the A game!! If you look further back in the archive postings you'll find Ollie Spink's report from one of the tournaments we played in. The boys always remember a lot more detail than I do!! (22/7/07 Wickham Market Tournament)

The line up was Harley in goal, Sam in defence, Freddie, Keiran and Alex across midfield, Nat and Jake up front. Charlie W and Dan on the bench.

Chantry started very brightly and took an early lead. I thought we were in for a torrid time again. We started to pass the ball better and after some great linking play with Freddie, Jake got the equaliser. Jake then became the provider and set up Nat to put us 2-1 up. Soon after a great pass from Keiran set Nat up for his second. 3-1 Half-time.
Charlie replaced Alex on the right and Dan tried his hand up front, replacing Jake. Chantry again picked up their game and pulled one back. We were playing well and pushing forward when Chantry scored again to equalise. ( I won't mention their fans as Freddie covers it better than I could from a players point of view.) once again we'd let a 2 goal cushion disappear. This time however we attacked straight away after some great battling by Alex and Nat, Freddie beat their keeper with a ferocious shot. The chantry manager shouted great goal as it smacked the post. Luckily Freddie had followed in and smashed in the rebound. 4-3. A few minutes later Keiran found Freddie with a superb pass that left him only needing to tap it in to an empty net, only to be tackled by Nat who then(luckily for him) finished it to make it 5-3. There were some great performances to note. Harley made his usual quota of saves, great defensive work by Sam at the back. We were again impressed witht his never say die attitude. If a player got past him as a few of them did, he was straight back in their winning it back. Keiran had a great game in the middle of midfield. Nat added a hat-trick to his tally( he almost got one against Trimley but our own player cleared it off the line!!)
Man of the Match was Freddie for his runs, passes and overall composure on the ball.