- Home
- Club Info
- The Teams
- About The club
- Contact
(Salford and Districts League Red Group)
⚽️ goals
Caleb
Henry
James
Imad
🅰️ assists
Imad
James
Caleb
Beechfield playing their return fixture at Stretford in similar Beechy esq long grass - Vincent in goal who took the captains armband, Fred & Alfie in defence with Henry and Caleb manning the wings. Imad & James on rotation.
Tight opening with Storm starting initially well with a break by Henry crossing in from the left agonisingly close to being connected with from Alf - Second chance came quickly after as Freddie thread the ball through to Alfie whose shot was well saved by the goalkeeper.
Shaky moments thereafter as Stretford pressed home advantage and Vincent made some very important stops and covers. One shot looking destined for the top corner and Vincent’s tentacles tipping the ball wide.
The instruction was to get down the wing and get the ball in being the difficult conditions which Imad coming on duly delivered. Warning signs for the host as Imad ran down the left crossed powerfully across the box and agonisingly tipped wide by Caleb.
Goal wasn’t too far away - Storming down the left wing again Imad beat his man crossed the ball in and volleyed in by Caleb.
2nd goal was close by with Fred collecting the ball in space, looking up and sweetly striking the ball though unfortunately went wide. Shortly after Imad picked up the ball from the Beechy half, driving again down the left on the break who found James this time who touched, swivelled and laced the ball into the top right.
This time it was Caleb who broke the line and smacked the ball from the edge of the box clipping the crossbar as it went over.
Imad took his hat trick of assists as the chief creator in the first half, again that left wing got some love, jinking past one defender and finding a third recipient in the form of Henry who caught the ball with the outside of his left foot on the volley.
Despite the goals, Storm looked shaky with Vincent on hand throughout with solid saves and cut outs. However, following a poor pass out this left Beechy on the back foot and Stretford scored a clinical shot from the left of the goal - Stretford went in at the half as the team on the ascendancy.
Getting in at half time the instructions were clear; hold the ball better and keep solid in defence - impressively Storm put on an exceptionally strong half performance with Fred, Alfie and Caleb in particular consistently finding their men, recycling & retaining the ball - this got some praise from the opposition coaches at the end for how well Storm retained & passed the ball.
Really good football throughout & limited Stretford to two breaks in the second half which was well covered by Vincent who had a very strong game.
In a controlled half a chance almost came from a long monster kick by Vincent with Caleb the close beneficiary - however the Goal of the game came from a well worked kick in, Freddy floated in from the right, an acrobatic back heel assist (no joke) from James fell perfectly for Caleb who volleyed the ball past the goal keeper.
James fed Imad who picked the ball this time on the right this time spun his defender, squeeze the ball to Caleb who played a one-two putting Imad in who powered his shot past the goalie. Finally the cherry on the top came from forward pressure, ball intercepted by Henry, took it round his man bringing it close to the keeper and tapping it past him to the bottom right corner.
Really impressive work from the team to adapt to the tricky environment - utilising the wings with four goals from crosses, they took the feedback on well from the second half and kept their heads in a tricky fixture against a solid Stretford side.
*Moment of the Match*
Had to be the backheel goal though the general play especially in the 2nd half was very strong!
*MOTM*
Genuinely impossible to call - every player voted someone different showing the quality of the team performance though the parents called out Henry & Vincent in particular.
Though the coach took home the trophy it was suggested that he “maybe should shave & do his hair before the next game” from one cheeky player. 🙄 time will tell if the feedback is indeed taken on board.