Our summer league adventure ended in a hotly contested game against a very capable Medfield team. We held our own for perhaps 50 minutes, but conceding a couple of early goals that made our task much more difficult.
For the opening ten or fifteen minutes we were under severe pressure as Medfield passed precisely and smoothly. They had a shot saved on the line by the excellent Mike A, and another good shot from 20 yards well saved by Lee (I think that was his name - so many 'keepers). From that save the ball was played out to Mick who was dispossessed 25 yards out in the centre. The attacker took a couple of touches and shot powerfully from the edge of the area to give Medfield the lead.
We slowly started to come into the game, but some more sloppy defending on the left let a second chance and second goal in. Medfield were proving to be clinical in their finishing. That goal was somewhat against the run of play, and we continued to have the better of the game. Shortly afterwards Bardot beat the offside trap and put us back in the game with a strong run that ended in him beating the 'keeper from 12 yards. Minutes later we broke through in numbers with Bardot on the ball supported by Gabriel on the left and Ivan on the right, but Bardot elected to shoot and dragged his shot wide.
Early in the second half Bardot was played down the right channel and rounded his defender with a great burst of speed. Alex raced towards the box and appeared to be hauled down as he outpaced his defender. In the meantime, Bardot had shot at the near post and the 'keeper parried for a corner. Pat, who had witnessed the foul on Alex, raced a good 30 yards to remonstrate with the Medfield defender and the referee, earning himself a yellow card in the process. Another decent move saw Alex narrowly failing to make contact with a good angled cross from Bardot on the right, and the ball skidded narrowly wide.
After absorbing a lot of pressure for the opening 20 minutes of the half, Medfield were always dangerous on the break, and went another goal up as we pressed for an equaliser. The attacker raced onto a pass through the centre and skillfully delayed his shot before touching the ball to his right to round Lee and finishing into an empty net. Medfield went four up with another break down their right side, the attacker hitting a low shot at the near post that Lee could only parry into the goal.
We were beaten by a better side, who were more creative and calmer in possession. We did ourselves no favours by playing everything through the middle or over the top towards the front runners. Still, a decent run in the tournament, and no shame losing to a quality side (who went on to beat Essex 6-0 in the final).
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