Match report 26-01-2019

Redditch Mens 1st XI stumbled in the race for promotion from West Midlands Division 1 as they suffered a 2-0 home defeat against Stourport 2nds.
Defeat means that the kingfishers remain in 2nd place in the league but now have no cushion over their weekend opponents who join them on 28 points, 6 points behind league leaders Market Drayton. 
The full league table can be seen at www.mrha.co.uk –> League Tables –> Tier 2 West Midlands Division 1
After suffering defeat to Stourport at the start of the season, Redditch were seeking revenge, hoping that home soil would bring them good fortune. However, not for the first time this season, Redditch were slow to get going and the early exchanges saw both sides enjoy plenty of possession but with Stourport seeing more sight of goal. Redditch did win a couple of penalty corners but failed to convert them. Mid way through the half, the kingfishers found themselves behind after Stourport’s forwards worked in triangles to play the ball around the Redditch defence and past goalkeeper Joe Cardy at the far post. The best chance of the half came before half time when Pete Dawson’s skill created room for him to cross the ball across the face of goal but unfortunately none of his teammates were on hand to get the finishing touch. Half Time inspiration from coach Wayne Beard wasnt enough to see Redditch score as the second half turned out much like the first. Despite notable battling performances from Harry Saunders and Dan Jakeman, Redditch conceded a second goal with 15 minutes remaining and with that Stourport’s experience saw them see out the remainder of the game without much threat. 
My comments as captain…
“It was the first time this season that we have failed to score and all of the team are disappointed with the performance. We didn’t create the sort of chances that we have in previous games and we will be working hard on that over the coming weeks at training. With the good run of form recently, we had given ourselves a bit of a cushion over our league rivals but that has now gone so it’s a test of character to see how we react and I’m confident that the team will pull together and work hard to get the results that we need.”
This week, the kingfishers travel to bottom of the league Leek 3rd XI who are yet to register any points so far this season.

Mens 4s hard fought game in which Bromsgrove came out 3 – 0 winners. The home team struggled to keep their shape in both halves with the result that the visitors were able to penetrate the home ‘D’ far too often. Their first goal came in the last minute of the first half after valiant defensive work throughout the half. Too many long hits were intercepted by opposition players who took full advantage of their good fortune. Redditch attacks were however, frequent enough to cause the opposition some problems at the back.

The second half saw an improvement in Redditch’s positional play and short passes resulted in attacks looking far more dangerous. The second goal was the result of a well placed aerial ball into the 25 and some good finishing by opposition forwards. The final goal came after a scramble in the goalmouth with the ball just creeping over the line. The last 15 minutes saw the home side pressing hard all the time with several shots on target and several more just going wide.

A gutsy performance from the home side with all players working hard throughout.