BU14 Scorpions Beat OCs 4-1
By Will Hayes
Coach Arjan oversaw a 4-1 victory at Reed’s School against a spirited Old Cranleighians u14 outfit on Sunday.
Pre game, a somewhat stressed Johnny Harcourt had been making the not unreasonable request to visitors' parents (from the previous game) that it was drop off only – no spectators. The Monclere/Barbour Jacketed Porsche Cayenne brigade took to this request in the same vein as if being told that Tarquin had been demoted to the prep school D team. So it was with some relief that Johnny passed the high vis jacket on to the Scorpions match day steward.
The Scorpions looked a bit unsure in the early stages and were caught short in the first 15 minutes with OCs taking an early lead. The side seemed to be intent on playing straight passes through the middle of the pitch, which were easily intercepted by the OCs side.
Tom C and Max M seemed to get the idea and managed to make powerful angled push passes to wider players, which saw more success for the home side. Leading the line superbly was (relative) newbie Alex D. Staying high up the pitch he showed good skill in trapping balls out wide and brought his fellow forwards into play.
Jude took Arj's advice on board and a smart first time pass from the inside left channel up to Freddie H lead to a tap in at the far post for James A.
Alex capped a strong game by scoring his second goal of the game with a well-executed strike. Eschewing the modern tomahawk style, cricketer Alex drilled an old school upright forehand hit hard into the bottom corner from a narrow angle.
Ben B and Ben B showed strong technical skills but would be well served by having different names and looking more dissimilar. Archie did well with some vital tackles at the back and Nico looked solid in goal. Your correspondent was unsure as to the final scorer. A good competitive game with some skilful players on display from an OCs side who were co-coached by ex-Surbiton stalwart Willie Marshall.
DOD - the Porsche Cayenne drivers (from the previous game) being huffy about the no spectators policy