Sherwood 3 – 3 Attenborough Colts
The Magnificent Seven lined up for a showdown against Attenborough on a strangely disorientating pitch marked out for the shot-put. Two linesmen were required to confirm throw-ins, corners and goal-kicks (with James acting for Sherwood). With Aadam and Alfie injured and Nico otherwise engaged, it was down to Mac ‘McQueen’, Kel ‘Coburn’, Patrick ‘Vaughan’, Leon ‘’Bronson’, Thomas ‘Brynner’, Kieran and Jordan (sorry, cannot remember the other two!) to show SenÓr Boot what they could do. No substitutions, no injuries, and certainly no prisoners!
After an evenly matched first ten minutes Kellum hurtled straight down to the bye-line and, from an impossible angle, slotted the ball past the keeper. Fired up by their first goal for some weeks, Sherwood maintained the pressure and Mac made it two with a cool tap in from a corner set up by Kieran. The first half ended with Sherwood in the lead 2-0.
Sherwood knew all to well that Attenborough would field a stronger team for the second half. They had three subs to play with but the Sherwood lads had to knuckle down and keep at it with no possibility of relief. Attenborough came out fighting and the goals started to fly past Sherwood’s valiant defence. Eight minutes from the end and Attenborough were leading 3-2. With anguished parents biting their nails and pacing the touchline nervously, Sherwood maintained their focus and were rewarded with an equaliser from a fantastic free kick by Kieran.
The final score was 3-3. It was a draw but it felt like a victory! Patrick made an astounding tip over the bar from a corner amongst several fine saves. Thomas and Leon worked incredibly hard and effectively in defence and the passing up front between Kieran, Kel, Mac and Jordan was excellent. It was a match of many corners – mainly because of the wind. Sherwood had to save several down their end but also had a few chances from our own.
The match was followed by a penalty shoot-out. Good to report that Sherwood won 7-5.
