Battling Cumnor Unbeaten At Carterton
On a momentous day for sport, Wales secured a thrilling Grand Slam at a pulsating Millennium Sta.. oh, hang on. Sorry.
Cumnor went out to Carterton to face, what many of us believe, to be the toughest team we've faced this year. With the season winding down, it would have been easy to protect our excellent record but no, Cumnor love a challenge. And what a challenge it was (and I'm not just talking about finding the ground!)
In the first match, Laurie started in goal with Joe in defence, a midfield four of Henry, Toby, James S and Ben Mc, and upfront the in-form goal machine that is Binky.
The game started at a frantic pace with both Cumnor and Carterton wrestling for control of the ball. Joe was quick and brave and tackled manfully at the back. His distribution play was excellent too. With Henry's physical presence unsettling Carterton and James S scrapping for every loose ball, Cumnor slowly gained the upper hand. The breakthrough wasn't long coming and it took some smart instinctive play from Toby to look up and thread a pass through to Binky. With nerves of steel Binky took on the excellent Carterton goalie and scored a wonderful individual goal. 1-0.
Carterton reacted well to going one down and pressed hard on the Cumnor goal. They would have got their equalizer if it wasn't for a stunning save by Laurie. Inspired by Laurie's keeping, Cumnor pushed forward and the impressive Ben Mc almost put Binky in for his second. More Cumnor pressure saw us get a corner but the Carterton goalie was difficult to beat. However, just before half-time, we got a second from guess who? Yes, Binky. Was it a cross? Was it a shot? It didn't matter because it pinged in the back of the net. 2-0.
In the second-half, Ben Mc replaced Laurie in goal. We actually dominated the second-half more than the first and if it wasn't for some goalkeeping heroics we might have got a hat full. Henry made some surging runs, James S was a real terrier in midfield, Laurie made some fantastic covering tackles and Joe was unbeatable. But the most pleasing aspect from the first game was the intricate link play between Toby and Binky. The hardworking defence and midfield gave Toby and Binky the platform to attack. Final whistle: 2-0 Cumnor and one of our best displays of the year.
In the second-match, Cumnor had to re-organize to compensate for Rory's absence (who'd gone to Twickenham to see 6 Nations runners-up, England). We started with two at the back (Adam M and Ben C) with Will, Ollie and James E in midfield and Fyn up front.
From the off it was obvious that this match would be tight. Will forced an early corner with a fierce shot and Adam M put in a strong tackle to snuff out Carterton's first attack. Cumnor were linking well through midfield and trying to get Fyn through on goal. Our passing was slick and effective but if anything, we were guilty over being a little over elaborate. It was real end-to-end stuff with corners and near misses at both ends. Henry made a smart save and Ben and Adam had to be alert. Occasionally one (or even both) defenders got stranded up the field as Carterton raided our goal. Carterton went very close and hit the post. Cumnor counter-attacked with some good wing-play from Will setting up a chance for Fyn. But, as in the first game, the Carterton goalie seemed ready for anything.
With Cumnor anxious to take the lead, we started losing our shape and looked a little ragged. More Carterton pressure saw the ball break for their striker. Henry could do nothing.0-1.
The coaches changed it around in the second-half with Ben asked to take sole defensive responsibilities and Adam pushed into central midfield. Lovely interplay between Ollie, Fyn and Adam from the kick-off saw Adam's superb shot go inches wide. With James and Ollie holding their shape in the midfield and Adam able to charge forward, Cumnor looked more threatening. A Carteron goalkick fell to Fyn who reacted instinctively and sent a long looping shot over the Carterton goalie and into the net. 1-1.
The game was now finely balanced with neither team dominating. Ollie and Adam combined nicely to put Will in but again the goalkeeper saved Carteron. Ben kept an eye on the dangerous Carterton striker but it was a speculative shot from midfield that almost sailed past Henry. Cumnor made a change bringing on Toby for James who was feeling the effects of an earlier illness. As the minutes ticked down both teams were firing in the shots from all angles but neither goal line was breached. Cumnor went closest of all with the very last kick of the game as Ben saw his thunderbolt pushed wide. There was no time for the corner as the final whistle signalled the end of a terrific match.
A fantastic effort by both teams. We haven't played for a few weeks and maybe it showed but our attitude and determination was spot on. Well done!
Player of the Week: Ben C for filling the big boots of Rory, staying disciplined at the back, getting up after a nasty knock and almost scoring with the last kick of the game.
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