Bowdon Killer Bees 7 - Urmston 2

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Twilight Zone... Everyone knew 'something was up' when they arrived at the pitch, because they saw the Bees practising penalty corner routines.

This is not normal.

All the Bees turned up pretty much on time, half an hour before the offical pushback time of 1245. While the rest of the team warmed up everyone involved in shorts got down to a few set pieces. While Andy "I've got an idea for a short corner" Marshall dispatched the ball from the backline, Yokker, Dave Taylor, Dave Phillips & Gary Campbell were poised either side of the receiver to shoot. Some constructive discussion took place; we settled down to four set pieces & ran through them a few times with increasing confidence.

About this time everyone started wondering where the hell the opposition had gone to?. They eventually started trickling in, by which time we were twenty minutes late starting. With Urmston having only four players & no keeper, we decided enough was enough, nominated a kicking back with the helmet, gave them some players & got going. The pre-match knockabout (albeit an extended one ) had benefitted most of the Bees & we moved the ball around well, scoring three goals in the first ten minutes, abley assisted by ringer Bob Cooke on the right wing. Over the rest of the half more Urmston players turned up & by the end of the first thirtyfive we finally had a full compliment of players on the pitch. Which was nice. The Bees slotted two more goals in before the first whistle went, making use of the frequently awarded penalty corners to hone our set pieces, and remembering to score from them too!

In the second half the Bees started to flake a bit, with tired legs resulting in missed opportunities and ill-received passes. Urmston's chief mischief-maker, their centre-forward Ashley, became increasingly confident, and with two henchmen in tow, successfully broke twice to pressure the Bees defence into conceeding goals. Despite valiant efforts by Bees keeper Andy White, the excesses of the first half were telling on our defence & we failed to clear the ball on several crucial occassions. Although two goals by Urmston were answered by two further goals from the Bees, the last ten minutes became a defensive frenzy as the oppo tried to narrow the scoreline.

We finished with a five goal lead, which we had worked hard to maintain in the latter part of the game. With a hatrick from Marshall (Yes, jug is still owing! - thirsty Ed), two goals from Jonny and one each from Dave Taylor & Gary Campbell the goal count was pretty respectable. Some post-match comments suggested some individual frustration at personal performances (self criticism in the Bees! Whatever next?) but overall the Bees had had an acceptable game in bright autumnal weather, on astro, and achieved a clear victory.

Result.

Olly