The Mighty 4s played a friendly with Bromsgrove 5s under the gloom of energy saving floodlights.

Preamble

When we played on this pitch earlier in the season the heavily sanded and compacted surface caused us a lot of problems. The ball slowed much more quickly than expected and consequently many of our passes lacked enough speed to be convincing. This friendly game provided us with a good opportunity to play on the surface again and get used to it because we have to play another league game here in March. Knowing what to expect helped us to adjust to the surface much better than previously and we made far fewer mistakes. The extra time on the pitch proved extremely useful and will stand us in good stead for the forthcoming fixture.

The Match

Sils began well with Willetts and Rush winning a couple of early short corners. These are becoming ever more important as Simon is finding some consistency in scoring from them. He went close with both corners only to be denied by the goalkeeper making two good saves.

Sils were well on top with the defence playing well and Simon pushing forward to instigate numerous attacking moves. As per usual we were very strong down the right with John Harrison giving a very spirited performance. (re: post script). It wasn’t too long before our pressure was rewarded with a fine goal from Andy Rush. This was quickly followed with another from new boy Ali Allana. Their defenders failed to cut out a ball that was knocked into the D. It came through to the far post and Ali calmly pushed it home.

Another short came after twenty minutes or so and Simon Russell scored a real corker of a goal from it, just brilliant!

At half-time we were leading by three goals to nil and looking fairly comfortable.

As the second half got underway Bromsgrove seemed somehow rejuvenated. Perhaps it was a change in formation but whatever the reason they began very strongly indeed. Two of their forwards were particularly quick and skilful and unlike the first half their midfield were now feeding the ball to them with pace and accuracy. The two forwards proved to be quite a handful and our defenders had to work very hard to keep them at bay. For the most part they did this very well with Sam, Mike and Craig keeping their shape and discipline. Yogi remained surprisingly focussed (re: post script) and dealt with everything else that got through.

However their sustained pressure was eventually rewarded with a well taken goal from open play. They almost got another when one of their forwards fired a reverse stick shot just wide. A good chance missed.

David Higgins, enjoying his new found role at the back, got stuck in with some fine tackles and clearances. Together with Murray Creed and Simon they worked hard to wrestle back the initiative from Bromsgrove. It has to be said that Murray turned in a real head banging performance, literally, and he had to leave the pitch to recover from it. Gradually the tide turned back in our favour. Soon Simon was pushing high and creating more and more attacking moves. He was supported really well by Sam Teal following up behind John Harrison on the right and Craig Ffitch pushing high behind James Harris on the left. James used his fast pace to good effect by penetrating deep into the left corner. This had the desirable effect of drawing their defender out of position.

Soon John and Andy were back in attacking mode and looking dangerous. John had a moment running at full speed (relatively speaking) down the right when one of their defenders foolishly tried to block him. What followed was reminiscent of Poldark scything his way through a field of barley. Fortunately the umpire intervened in time and the young man was able to reassemble himself and continue playing.

Back in control and playing well Sils were looking to increase their lead. It soon came with another fine goal from open play by Andy. He followed this up with a super cross to Ali who was waiting completely unmarked in the D. He duly knocked in number five.

In the end this was a comfortable win and a good team performance in a competitive but friendly game.

A very warm welcome to Ali Allana on his debut for the Mighty 4s.

Man of the Match. Simon Russell

Post Script

We all arrived at the ground uncommonly early on account of Craig not being responsible for any driving or navigation. We sat around waiting in the freezing cold. Unbeknown to the rest of us John and Yogi had sneaked off to find the nearest boozer for a winter warmer and pre-match snifter.

The Tale of the Bruiser in the Boozer.

John described the watering hole as, “The roughest pub I have ever been to in my life.” This was confirmed when he noticed a faded holiday snap behind the bar that had been signed by the Kray twins!

John ordered a brandy and Yogi elected to have double with a single malt to chase it down. Together they settled on the settle to get warm.

The pub pooch, a hungry muscle bound Staffordshire bull terrier took a shine to Yogi and sat on his lap. Rather worryingly he had LOVE and HATE tattooed on his front paws and the remains of a human ear stuck between his teeth.

The landlady, idly cracking walnuts two at a time between her eyelids, sensed Yogi’s unease and warned, “He can smell fear so you better stroke him.”
Yogi duly obliged.

John mused over likely names for the pooch, Whimsy, Dahlia, Sugar etc.
Yogi could only manage Satan followed by Jaws while whispering a prayer of thanks for the fact that he was already wearing his protective box.

With a slug of brandy inside him and a furry muff on his lap the temperature inside his box began to rise dramatically threatening the very integrity of his credentials. The pooch sensed a potential titbit in the offing, or more accurately, in the box and started dribbling.

Yogi indicated to the landlady that they were ready to leave but he couldn’t get the dog off his lap.

“Get down Bruiser it’s not time for your dinner yet and by the way would either of you like to try my pickled walnuts?”

Yogi, “No thanks I’ve already got two.”

With that they returned in time for the start of the game full of spirit and with Yogi’s credential still intact.