Streetly 3rd XI 11 – 0 Kidderminster
The first game of the season saw Streetly start confident and ready to get three points to start the season. The 1st half started slow but after 5 minutes Streetly had got to grips with the opposition and had the majority of possession. By half time Streetly were up by 2 goals to none, both of which came from Liam rake. The second half started with Kidderminster confident to score but in the space of 20 minutes David peers had scored 3 and Mark Lillington, Ricky Kelly, George Acton, Elliot Bailey, Andy Brettal and Liam Rake had scored one each making that an 11 – 0 win to Streetly. Man of the Match Liam Rake and the rest of the squad head to Droitwich next week with high hopes of bagging another 3 points.
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BodyKraft Mens 3rd XI League West Mids Div 2
Redditch 1 - 0
Streetly
Streetly travelled to Redditch on the back of a 2 game winning streak confident of coming away with spoils. Streetly’s regular strike force of Peers and Hopkins have amounted 7 goals in two games however only Hopkins was available for this crucial top to the table clash. Steve Davis had to once again re-shuffle the pack. From the outset, and it was Redditch who took the early initiative. They pinned Streetly back into their own half from and poor clearances allowed Redditch to exploit a few early openings and win some penalty corners. Streetly however rose to the occasion and defended them expertly with good saves coming from young Jon Hobbs in the Streetly goal. Redditch continued to press and it wasn’t until Mark Lillington took the ball on himself did Streetly get their first sniff at goal.
After cleverly jinxing past two defenders Mark fired the defence splitting ball right onto the stick of the inform Hopkins who raced clear 1 v1 against the Redditch Keeper. However after rounding the Keeper, the umpire was unable to notice the obstruction of the ball as the keeper lay on top of it, and then was cleared after a lengthy appeal. Streetly then were hit on the counter attack and after a penalty corner was awarded, the saved shot was not dealt with and the Redditch winger flicked it past a helpless Hobbs into the top corner for 1-0 to Redditch. Streetly had the last chance of the first half when a great move which linked between, ‘Harvey’s Man of the Match’ Will Murray, Chris Bache, Tom Walsh and eventually George Acton who’s crossed was narrowly missed by a diving Hopkins left Redditch knowing they should have gone into half time at 1-all.
The second half was a different story. Streetly were fired up after a stern team talk by skipper Davis and after requesting simple basic hockey, Streetly duly obliged. It was wave after wave of Streetly pressure but as it proved for the whole game were just unable to unlock the door with a killer pass enough to cause a problem. The only time Redditch got back into the game was after some ill discipline (Venables & Hopkins) who both saw yellow meaning Streetly had only 9 players on at 1 point for the second time in two weeks. But Streetly weathered the storm thanks to great defending by Davis, Goodman and Hobbs in the Streetly goal. Now back to full strength Streetly again took control and won several penalty corners in which both Elliot Bailey and Will Murray both nearly converted but to no prevail. Right at the death Dave Hopkins who’s afternoon of finishing wasn’t to get any better, turned two defenders and slipped the keeper only to fire directly into another defender with 2 open Streetly players who surely would have levelled the score and the game finished a credible 1-0 to Redditch with both teams knowing that they were both in a competitively fought game. A home tie to local rivals Walsall is up next for Streetly.
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BODYKRAFT LEAGUE WEST MIDLANDS 3RD TEAM DIVISION 2
Old Sils 3rd XI 2
- 4 Streetly 3rd XI
Streetly travelled to Old Sils hoping to bring to an end a run of two defeats and resurrect their promotion hopes. Due to injuries higher up the Club a much changed team made the trip to the new pitch at Old Sils and Steve Davis had to shuffle the pack yet again. Streetly started brightly and soon forced a short corner which Eliot Bailey coolly slotted home following a well worked routine. However Streetly's defensive failings showed up again and Old Sils forced a series of short corners which resulted in an equaliser when goalkeeper Hobbs was left stranded but a deflected shot that was forced over the line following a rebound from the underside of the bar. Some heavy tackling led to a scrappy period of the game which was broken by a sublime pass from David Peers who picked out Dave Hopkins run who rounded the keeper and shot to give Streetly the lead. Streetly increased their lead early in the second half when a goalmouth melee resulted in the ball falling to George Acton who rolled the ball to Peers to slot home. Old Sils increased their tempo and again the Streetly defence yielded to the pressure when the ball was never cleared and the Old Sils centre forward pounced. Howver Peers but the game out of reach with a fine solo run taking on two defenders and beating them for pace and slotting the ball home from a narrow angle to make the final score 4-2.
Harveys Man of the Match – Ben Griffiths