QE A Team vs Wakefield

It was a cold, wet day over at our home known as abbey road. The rain was on and off all day and the lads were disheartened by the absence of their idolised skipper. With this tragic loss the A team lads pulled together and decided to put in a good shift to make the skipper proud. Rob West supplied some good crack before the game putting on some up beat songs along the lines of 30 seconds of summer with John Lorimer suggesting to put fire on to get the lads up and mentally prepared for the big game ahead. Once out the team was led by substitute captain Rob West taking charge as Hal Denny and Craig Edwards turned down the role. The Wakefield lads came out to warm up in their full gear looking like a premier league side. This made QE nervous before the game. But, another great team talk from the gaffa Mark Scott pulled the lads together once more and off onto the pitch they went. The home side were put under serious amounts of pressure in the first 10 minutes as the lads tried to adapt to their new roles with Hal 'maestro' Denny in the central midfield and John Lorimer filling in at centre back. With Nelson giving away a penalty moments into the game heads were dropping. Out of no where Jacob Melling pulled a save that easily dealt with for the well struck penalty placed into the bottom corner. The game went at a furious pace after the save with Jamie Maddison, Josh Clarke, Craig Edwards and Tom Cookson all pressing to get a goal. Tom then broke the line of defence and was 1 on 1, the keeper pulled off a good save to deny Tom. The ball fell to Craig Edwards as he slotted the ball home to make the score 1-0. After a few more minutes of play the ball got put on a plate by Westy for Tom Cookson and he magically turned the defender and put it past the keeper to make it 2-0. The lads were thoroughly pleased with the performance, as was skipper who was watching them from the side taking notes for improvements in future games. Suddenly a burst of pace from Josh Clarke down the left side made the oppositions defence weary and he played the ball down to pretty boy Tom Cookson who tested the keeper and he reacted with a good save, only to fall to Josh Clarke who controlled the ball then went for power from the edge of the box. The ball pinged past the keeper who happened to be out of position and smashed the net to make the score 3-0. The lads went in at half time over the moon and the morale was through the roof. Another cracking team talk from Scotty made the lads realise that the opposition might get back into the game. The second half was a long and arduous one. The lads were holding the back line with exceptional discipline with Matty Bell putting in another shift to keep their strong winger at bay. The winger was also scared of Matty with his intimidation throughout the game. Brad Middleton replaced Josh Clarke to get some fresh legs down the left side. Brad was running up and down the left flank to keep the lead making some important defensive tackles along with some outstanding dribbles whilst doing so. The last 15 minutes of the game finally came and the score was kept at 3-0. Wakefield applied a period of high pressure putting the defence on edge, Alex Nelson was making some fantastic interceptions to keep them out. The home team conceded a free kick and their striker managed to get there before Melling, but like all good defenders Callum Bates anticipated the worst case scenario and cleared the ball off the line in a great fashion. Once again the A teams morale was replenished and they held it out till the end of the match with Alex Grocott replacing Jamie Maddison in the central midfield, ensuring our victory was secure with some decisive interceptions. Unfortunately, our newcomer Cameron Edgar didn't get on but did a good job of warming the bench. The final whistle went and the lads were overwhelmed with their massive victory! PC came on and led the pitch invasion with Marc Scott closely following, it was a quality performance from all of the lads and everyone made the college and Nath proud. MOM Jacob Melling