Raglan rue missed chances at Borough 7-a-side
Posted ~ Monday 10 October 2011
After a bright start Raglan will be disappointed with crashing out to Oakmere in the semi finals of the Borough 7-a-side tournament held at St John’s Senior, Ridgeway, last Saturday.
Suffolks A were the first opposition and they were dispatched with ruthless efficiency by captain Oliver, who fired in two long range efforts before half time. He saved his best ‘til last though as he unleashed a net-busting volley early on in the second half to put the result beyond doubt. Charlie, making his debut for the school team, then brilliantly crafted a chance for Antony to put the final nail in the coffin and make it 4-0 to Raglan. Charlie was also unfortunate that the referee missed his header crossing the line, but it was an impressive debut nonetheless. With Alper also making his debut and looking lively it was a perfect start to the day.
St Mary’s were next up in the group stages and provided more resistance, until two late Antony goals gave Raglan a late win. The first was set up by brilliantly by Devis and the second was a solo effort straight from the restart. What was pleasing was the way that even with the clock ticking down, Raglan remained patient and kept the ball moving quickly to break down a strong defence, whilst remaining absolutely watertight at the back. This was largely down to the defensive triangle of sweeper ‘keeper Malachi with Elliot and one of either Milan or Matthew playing alongside him. All supremely comfortable on the ball they also enjoy the defensive side of the game, which makes them a formidable unit. Their total belief in their ability and refusal to play long meant that St Mary’s spent a large part of the game chasing shadows and runners from deep which they simply couldn’t live with.
The last group game was against Eldon who Raglan recently beat in the clusters but they were a different story this time round, as Raglan found their ‘keeper in inspired form, making save after save to keep it 0-0. Raglan will regret the fact that some of their forward play was too selfish but thankfully the strong showing in the previous two games meant that despite not scoring for the first time this season they topped their group with a healthy +6 goal difference and progressed into the semis.
Oakmere were the opponents and Raglan started badly and never recovered. Within minutes they conceded their first goal of the season after possession was given away cheaply in the defensive third and Oakmere’s captain managed to squeeze a shot in at the near post. Despite showing signs of coming back into the game Raglan were again guilty of too many poor decisions in their attacking play with too many moves breaking down at the last moment as players chose the selfish option for themselves and not what best for the team. Disaster struck on the stroke of half time and the Oakmere captain marauded down the left and once again managed to get a shot off from an acute angle that settled in the far corner of the net. Raglan started the second half brightly and despite dominating possession couldn’t find a way past the Oakmere goalkeeper despite having several chances with players over. An exciting finale was set up as Oliver threw in for Antony to volley home from close range but it was too little too late as Raglan crashed out.
Raglan will be disappointed to lose their first game of the season but will learn that poor starts can be costly. With the second round of clusters on Tuesday they have the perfect opportunity to demonstrate to the coaches and each other that they have learnt their lessons in defeat.