Saturday, January 14, 2006
Old Boys Edge Tight Game
Brooklands MU Men's 7s 1-2 Bury Grammar School Old Boys Men's 1s
The Old Boys returned from the Christmas break in positive mood, boosted by the agreement of a new sponsorship deal with Carcraft. However, several late withdrawals saw Bury having to take on third placed Brooklands, with only eleven men.
The Old Boys were undaunted, and started the match with a new look formation, which saw Will Aitken play as a sweeper and allowed Matt Cooke to be pushed further forward. Both moves were to prove telling.
The game started with end-to-end action, with both sides pouring forward whenever they could. Bury’s attacking threat was added to by the willingness of both full-backs, Tariq Sheikh and Andy Foster, to support the attack whenever possible. Whilst both sides pressed, neither created a shot on target until midway through the first half.
Quick play from The Old Boys saw the ball moved swiftly from back to front. Joe Ainscow received the ball, and played an incisive pass through to fellow forward Matt Cooke. As the ball bounced awkwardly, Cooke applied an instinctive first time finish past the advancing keeper, to give Bury the lead. The Old Boys then exerted considerable pressure on the Brooklands defence, but were unable to add to their lead, despite some excellent play from the Bury midfield of Hodbod, Berry, Spencer and Hillary.
As half time approached Brooklands had a series of short corners. However, excellent defending from Sameer Sheikh and Andrew Foster, coupled with two outstanding saves from Neil Smith, meant that Bury went in at halftime with their lead intact.
The second half again saw both teams attacking at every opportunity. Whilst the Bury defence stood firm, marshalled superbly by Aitken, the attack began to create more openings. The Old Boys deservedly moved further in front fifteen minutes into the second half, following some excellent play from Cooke. His neat turn and measured pass gave Ainscow a clear sight of goal. The forward powered the ball home to claim his fourth of the season.
Shortly afterwards Cooke had the ball in the net again, but his effort was ruled out following a seemingly innocuous foul. The lack of substitutes forced the Old Boys onto the back foot, as Brooklands threw more men forward. Eventually their pressure told as, with ten minutes remaining, they grabbed a goal following a scramble in the circle. More pressure followed but The Old Boys held firm to take a hard fought three points, and start the second half of the season on a positive note.
Match Day Squad: Smith, Aitken, T. Sheikh, S. Sheikh, Foster, Hillary, Spencer, Berry, Hodbod, Ainscow, Cooke
The Old Boys returned from the Christmas break in positive mood, boosted by the agreement of a new sponsorship deal with Carcraft. However, several late withdrawals saw Bury having to take on third placed Brooklands, with only eleven men.
The Old Boys were undaunted, and started the match with a new look formation, which saw Will Aitken play as a sweeper and allowed Matt Cooke to be pushed further forward. Both moves were to prove telling.
The game started with end-to-end action, with both sides pouring forward whenever they could. Bury’s attacking threat was added to by the willingness of both full-backs, Tariq Sheikh and Andy Foster, to support the attack whenever possible. Whilst both sides pressed, neither created a shot on target until midway through the first half.
Quick play from The Old Boys saw the ball moved swiftly from back to front. Joe Ainscow received the ball, and played an incisive pass through to fellow forward Matt Cooke. As the ball bounced awkwardly, Cooke applied an instinctive first time finish past the advancing keeper, to give Bury the lead. The Old Boys then exerted considerable pressure on the Brooklands defence, but were unable to add to their lead, despite some excellent play from the Bury midfield of Hodbod, Berry, Spencer and Hillary.
As half time approached Brooklands had a series of short corners. However, excellent defending from Sameer Sheikh and Andrew Foster, coupled with two outstanding saves from Neil Smith, meant that Bury went in at halftime with their lead intact.
The second half again saw both teams attacking at every opportunity. Whilst the Bury defence stood firm, marshalled superbly by Aitken, the attack began to create more openings. The Old Boys deservedly moved further in front fifteen minutes into the second half, following some excellent play from Cooke. His neat turn and measured pass gave Ainscow a clear sight of goal. The forward powered the ball home to claim his fourth of the season.
Shortly afterwards Cooke had the ball in the net again, but his effort was ruled out following a seemingly innocuous foul. The lack of substitutes forced the Old Boys onto the back foot, as Brooklands threw more men forward. Eventually their pressure told as, with ten minutes remaining, they grabbed a goal following a scramble in the circle. More pressure followed but The Old Boys held firm to take a hard fought three points, and start the second half of the season on a positive note.
Match Day Squad: Smith, Aitken, T. Sheikh, S. Sheikh, Foster, Hillary, Spencer, Berry, Hodbod, Ainscow, Cooke
