It was always going to be a tough game today, Spalaig had proven themselves to be a good side this season, and we were facing them with a man down from the start. We only had 10 players available from the start today, and even some of them had been off school in the week due to illness, but considering the below par team, Oakengates played superbly and never gave up till the final whistle.

Kelvin was particularly strong today, trying to create chances, holding off players and generally being a team player, Cameron too was strong, covered lots of ground and laid off some superb balls for the forwards to run on to and although Rhys saw 8 goals go into the back off his net, it could have been more as he pulled off some fine saves and deserved the man of the match trophy.

In the first half we didn’t create many chances to go forward, Ryan W worked hard in midfield, chasing loose balls, Amir was strong and matched the opposing players with his strength and Ben put in a couple of great balls that he had picked up on the left.

The defence today was a little lacking, Kieron was strong , but the rest were out of sorts and couldn’t cope with the Spalaig attack which just kept on coming. Right back James was drifting into midfield a lot today which put even more pressure on the other defenders. By the second half he was put into midfield where he played better and was able to get onto goal , which is clearly where he wanted to be from the start. So Amir was put into defence, where he did a good job, helping out Beckhem and Matthew who were doing their best but just couldn’t stop the Spalaig strikers from passing between themselves and going round the defence.

Spalaig are a very good passing side, they know how to pass and move, and look up before making a pass, which makes a big difference in a game. Cameron made a cracking run towards the end of the match where he turned an opposing player inside out, then whizzed the ball into the box only for James who was waiting for the cross, to be pushed, we had a consolation penalty which James calmly scored, we were 6-1 down, but still Oakengates fort to play on, showing great spirit. Kelvin continued to get forward, passing well, and getting back to help the defence when he could.

On the whole the team played well and should be proud of themselves, they started with a man down and had no subs to bring on, but they played on till the end with great team spirit and were always trying to get forward and score