Mens 3's vs Newbury & Thatchams 4's

Match report for the Men’s 3s:

The 3s has a number of regular players missing for this tough away fixture vs Newbury & Thatcham but we’re supported by the introduction of Yuvraj and Rod from the Merlins to go with a team of 12.

The match started with Maids winning an early short corner from some good pressing from the forwards, but soon after, Newbury demonstrated why they are at the top end of the league with some quick passing and good ball possession and they were soon a goal up. From then on, despite wave after wave of Newbury attack, the Maids defence was outstanding, starting with Tyler constantly keeping their forwards out and a back three of Oz, Dave M and Colin consistently making vital tackles and starting our counter attacks.

Giving as good as we got, the team won a number of short corners from some probing attack play and were finally rewarded when Oz found the right corner with a great drag flick to bring the score level at 1-1. This had completely rattled Newbury who then spent the last 10 minutes of the half stepping back and giving Maids more time and space to move the ball.

Unfortunately the second half started badly with Newbury scoring a very quick goal within 2 minutes to put the score at 2-1 but there was plenty of time for a Maidenhead comeback.

Throughout the second half, the team continued to keep the formation and shape and everyone worked extremely hard to compete with Newbury’s consistent onslaught. Mark, Don, Dave T and Ollie all battled well in midfield making a number of tackles and broke up play well, with Don, Oz and Dave T in particular trying to launch the ball towards the forward line to get us in a position to get that important goal.

Tim, Rod and Yuvraj all worked tirelessly up front to try and create chances with Yuvraj in particular troubling the Newbury defence with his fearless runs at their left back.

In the end, we were reduced to only one further shot in the second half as Newbury had a bit more in the tank and crucially, had plenty more subs to call upon.

The team left the pitch disappointed with the narrow 2-1 loss but should feel proud of their efforts as to stay in the match against a side like Newbury and battle until the final whistle is a credit to everyone’s work rate on the day.

Player of the match goes to Oz who barely put a foot wrong in defence and for a superb goal. There were many other players who were also worthy of player of the match - the whole defensive line with Tyler and a shout out to Colin who stopped many Newbury attacks and cleared the lines well.

A draw would have merited the efforts of the team and if they keep playing with that work rate and we can ensure we have more players on the bench, there is no doubt there are points we will pick up between now and the end of the season.

Match report: Viren Walia
Player of the match: Ian Osbon