Close game against Leeds Adel 6s results in 0-0 Draw

It was a slightly overcast afternoon as we took to the pitch against Leeds Adel 6s. Initial exchanges
seemed to suggest that Leeds Adel often had a spare man but this was soon addressed by the 7s
pulling on another outfielder, having started with only 10 including Brian in goal on the pitch.
Thankfully Leeds Adel failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage.

The game wasn’t particularly open with most of the play being in the middle of the park. Both sides
got into the final quarter on occasion with the 7s producing some nice play down the wings but
failing to get off any killer shots in the opposition D.

As a defender, the highlight of the half was the great Bob Maltby, who was umpiring, looking at our
defensive line up as we stood in the goal before a Leeds Adel short and exclaiming “You’re all dads!”.
Not entirely correct but it bought back happy memories of Bob coaching Clark, Duffus-Hodson and
Wordsworth juniors over 10 years ago.

At half time Ian set us a challenge - think of one word that described the game. Many of us found
this rather difficult, demonstrating the numerical abilities that perhaps explained why we had the
incorrect number of players on the pitch to start with. However the general feeling was that we had
the upper hand and if we stuck to the basics the game was there for the winning.

In the second half we did press forward with our youthful midfield getting a fair about of buffeting
from the older, more experienced Leeds Adel players. As is the modern way, once in the D our strike
force worked hard to get the ball onto their back stick before having a shot which perhaps gave the
opposition defence too much time to marshal themselves. On balance, we had more attempts on
goal than the opposition but sadly none were converted – the closest being a short corner routine
with the ball going in off the post but also, and crucially, crossing the line at just above back board
height. Still it was a lovely strike from Adam and the umpires had to think twice before ruling it out.
At the other end there were a few attacks that the defence repelled with our mid-field tracking back
well to provide support and a short corner that had Brian pulling off a nice Hollywood save.

As the clock ran down Leeds Adel had a final attack and won a short corner just as the whistle blew.
Luckily they failed to convert and the game ended 0 – 0, though with the ever reliable Adam it
looked like we’d won on the bloodied knee front. Probably a fair result but, had we converted our
chances, it would have been a different story. Still, an easy weekend for listing goal scorers on GMS,
always good to get a clean sheet and the 7s extend their unbeaten run to three games.

A wide range of man of the match nominations, reflecting the general even level of play in the match
but Alfie aced it with twice as many votes as anyone else.