Cuddington vs Macclesfield Saints – Saturday 9^th February

1^st Match

The sun was shining on the Norley Road pitch and in the opening minutes the teams were very evenly matched. Jack’s first attempt to score frustratingly crossed the goal front and Cuddington gained possession. James, Jamie and Mike played solidly in defence but unfortunately a foul by Mike gave Cuddington an early free kick which narrowly missed its target. Macc Saints played some fantastic passing football with Jack, Rhys and Eddie making a brilliant trio up front receiving the ball from equally good work by Mike, Jamie and James. Time and time again Jack passed skilfully to Rhys and Eddie who’s attempts on goal missed by inches. The Cuddington goalie played well to keep the half time score to 0: 0 and towards the end of the first half it became clear that the Saints were easily outplaying their opponents.

The second half again saw Macc Saints take the upper hand early on with some great runs of play. Al, who played well in goals for the whole game, took a fantastic kick out to Jack which he passed to Eddie that then missed its target by a fraction. A frenetic run of play in the box culminated in a goal attempt by Rhys, deflected by the goalie to Mike, who slammed it back to score the first goal for Macc Saints. This was followed by a very near miss by Cuddington. Saints regained control for another goal attempt this time by Douglas. James showed some excellent skill in midfield controlling the ball and rebutting the opposition. Unfortunately when Cuddington did eventually regain possession despite a great initial block from Mike they managed to score. The pace of play picked up in the closing minutes when Jack again narrowly missed a goal. Cuddington fought back and battled through our defence to attempt another shot on goal, James came forward in defence and unfortunately the ball clipped his arm before going in just seconds before the final whistle. The score line was a bitter disappointment to all our boys who knew what a great game of passing football they had played.

Full time score 2 : 1 to Cuddington

Player of the Match – Edward.

2^nd Match

This was another fantastic match. As usual Oliver did us proud in goal. George, Callum and Ross worked hard in defence to deny Cuddington a lot of the possession and allow Alex C, Tom and Sam to show off their skill up front. At times we lacked some skill with our throw ins but our passing ability more than made up for it and was commented on by the manager of the opposition. Our boys “bedded in” and worked hard the whole of the first half which remained goalless despite some good attempts on both sides that were saved by good goal keeping at both ends.

In the second half Macc Saints moved up a gear. Sam seemed to be playing the length of the field defying the opposition. Ross made a number of impressive runs as did George keeping the ball in our possession with Callum solidly blocking anything that did get through. Early in the second half a controversial tackle by Callum in the box went unseen by the referee so no penalty was awarded. Play continued at a rapid pace with Saints again outskilling the opposition with excellent passing play. A great corner from Sam was headed by Tom but it just went over the bar. Soon after Sam again crossed the ball this time to Alex C who managed to score. Sam then made his own attempt on goal and narrowly missed only for Alex to come back for a second goal. Not to be outdone Sam tried again and scored a great goal from the sideline. The run on goals continued this time a great pass in from George found Alex who scored his hat trick. A dejected Cuddington could only watch as Tom made it 5. Then it was Ross’s turn but his attempt was held by the keeper. In the final second Cuddington regained control of the ball and narrowly missed their target.

Final score 5:0