OTFC IIs v John Fisher Old Boys Is (A)

8th November 2014

John Fisher Old Boys Is 6 - 2 OTFC IIs

Arriving fashionably late, Captain Bostelmann quickly set about organising his makeshift team into a formation that would, in theory, overload the opposition going forward whilst providing a robust platform in defence, in a sort of 4-5-1 (?). However, he needn’t have bothered as within the first few minutes the opposition striker finished a neat move, slotting home for the opening goal of the game.

Tiffs responded well, with good fullback play from Rhys leading to James being felled just inside the penalty box; if not for an over-theatrical dive the referee might have awarded a penalty. As it turned out, Tiffs’ best move of the half was capped by another opposition goal (again, conceded from a set-piece). A special mention must go to Henry’s audacious Cristiano Ronaldo free kick effort, which was unlucky not to trouble the opposition keeper. An unpleasant rolled ankle forced Tiffs to use their one and only sub – however, the change did little to improve our fortunes as 2 more goals were conceded in scrappy fashion from corners and subsequent loose second balls. 4-0 at half time.

There was a great response for the start of the second half, with surging runs from Henry really threatening the opposition defence which had looked fairly solid. For a good 25 minutes Tiffin were on top, and the pressure told when Dave whipped-in a low inswinging corner which glanced off the opposition defender’s head and into the back of the net. Smelling blood, the 2s threw everything at John Fisher, and promising linkup between the midfield and forwards told when Dave neatly slid the ball home. However, we just couldn’t find the third (or indeed fourth, fifth, or sixth), as John Fisher responded well, with the oppo captain bullying a header from a free kick that looped over the helpless Luke (who had kept us in the game with some quality saves). The final goal actually started from the ball going at least a yard out of play – however, nobody really seemed to process this and played on, allowing the useful John Fisher striker to wrap up a good day for his team. Final score 6-2.

Shout out to Dave and Luke who manfully stepped up for a half each in between the sticks. Tiffs will surely stop the rot next week, as a healthy looking squad take on Old Tenisonians IVs.