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'2nd XI Football Blog'
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Friendly Match v Aldro II Wednesday 4th December Home Eagle House 3 Aldro 1 (Goals: Afolarin 12 min, Felix 40 mins, Cameron 55 min.) With so many of the 1st And 2nd XI playing rugby at the Wellington Tournament, a friendly match was arranged so that the remaining players could have a worthwhile fixture. This meant that this was very much a scratch team with a number of you asked to play out of position, and the usual team understanding was noticably missing at times. You were missing players in key positions, particularly at centre back where Felix M. and Ryan, a hastily converted full-back and a midfielder, accepted the challenge and worked hard to contain the Aldro striker. Max had to bale them out quite a lot, and Will popped up twice to clear the ball off the line. However, going forward was another matter. Your control and dribbling skills were first class with Felix F. and Tom backed up by Karim, threatening up both wings while Cameron and Afolarin looked dangerous in the middle. Theo was also able to create space, and set up a string of half chances early on. The goalkeeping at both ends was of the highest standard, and neither player made a mistake throughout the match. Some clever trickery and pace from Felix F. took three defenders out of the game and his nicely weighted cross fell to Afolarin who finished clinically. Aldro forced themselves back into the game by establishing a measure of control in midfield. Eagle House were a little bit stretched in this area, and definitely missed the presence of the absent players - there was a clear imbalance - an abundance of skill but little presence. Billy was struggling to adapt to the left side of midfield and his usual composed play was missed. Aldro took advantage of this and a good ball put our centre partnership under more pressure when a half clearance fell to their sharp left winger who ran clear to score. Fortunately, your counter attacking skills remained a constant threat, and you were back in front within a minute; a mesmerising run from Felix F. took him into the box where he unleashed a powerful shot to score at the near post. Chances came at both ends, although when Edward moved to his favoured full-back position, the Eagle House defence tightened up. In the final 5 minutes Aldro switched their formation to a more attacking set up, in an attempt to snatch an equaliser. You held firm and gave little away in this period and then Cameron took advantage of the spaces at the back, running on to a good ball from Theo before lobbing the goalie with an excellent finish from 30 yards. This was a very good contest, played to a high standard and in a very good spirit. Your strength lay in the skills of some very talented individual players, and your weakness was a lack of familiarity and a definite imbalance. So it was nice to see you still trying to play good football and coming out on top in a game that could have easily slipped away from you. Full marks to Aldro on a good performance, and it was great to see you all at tea getting on so well. Cheap Rag Newspaper Performance Ratings: Max Kirk 9, William Price 7, Felix Medlock 5, Ryan Chan* 5, Karim Sheikh 6, Theo Singh 7, Felix Fowler 8, Billy Dovey 4, Tom Johnston 7, Cameron Henderson 8, Afolarin Shasore 7. Sub: Edward Beedham 5
2nd XI v Bradfield College Wednesday 28 November Eagle House 2 Bradfield College 2 This was a good game to watch with two well matches teams slugging it out. Bradfield, much stronger than last year, had the size advantage, but we had the skill!! Some of our passing movement was excellent and especially in the second half, we should have scored a few goals, but we stood off Bradfield a little and gave them lots of room in the middle of the pitch. Consequently, after scoring through Billy Dovey, we conceeded two goals. So 2 - 1 down at half time, we were determined to get back in the game and to score. We attacked well and created lots of chances, but we left it to the last 5 minutes to draw level through Saxon Coop after great work by Billy Dovey and Will Fletcher. Phew!
2nd XI v Cranleigh Wednesday 21 November Eagle House 1 Cranleigh 1 The match against Cranleigh was a tougher proposition than last week. The boggy pitch didn't help matters either. However, we played very good football, passing and moving the ball very well with the midfield linking really well with the wingers and Richard Bishop up front. We went one goal up through Billy Dovey, who curled the ball past their keeper after excellent set up play from Afolarin Shashore and Richard Bishop. At the end of the first half, we looked the better side. In the second half, Cranleigh put a lot of pressure on us, but our defence stood strong, especially with some excellent covering from Felix Medlcok and Nikolai Malyguine in defence. Cranleigh began to take control of midfield as we defended too deep and the gaps between midfield and defence widened as we got tired from the booggy condiitons. But we still stood strong. In the end, it took something special to beat us. A Cranleigh midfielder got the ball 20 yards out, in space, and shot. Although Josh Blosse was positioned well, the ball just passed over his outstretched hand and just under the bar. A very good goal, lucky, but very good. Now we know where we stand against a good team. Our play was better and more intricate and the pitch no doubt had a say in the final score, however, the team needs to maintain their positions and their concentration a little better, ready for the next match.
2nd XI v Pangbourne College Eagle House 9 Pangbourne College 0 The 2nd XI played very well. The passing was excellent and the communication on the pitch was very good.
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