Men's 2nd XI vs Canterbury M7

September 26^th: Cliftonville 2s Vs Canterbury 7s

Keen to build on a strong result from the previous week, Cliftonville faced a matchup of ‘David Vs Goliath’ sized proportions against local revivals, Canterbury.

The game started with all the energy and fizz that we’ve come to expect from Cliftonville, immediately asking questions of the Canterbury midfield and defence, probing to find weaknesses in their well drilled team.

Ville, always wanting to take control of the game early, were slinging the ball around and pushing high up the pitch, but their over confidence led to some sloppy passing which was easily intercepted by the Canterbury Midfield. This led to a number of breaks which left Ville desperately working back to defend their lines and recover possession.

Canterbury moved the ball well and managed to find an opening, allowing them to be strike first with a neatly tucked away goal. 0 - 1. The pressure was now on Ville to respond.

The rest of the 1^st half was an uneventful affair - a balanced encounter with neither team managing to stamp their mark on the game. The second half needed to be different if Ville were to be victorious.

Ville approached the second half with more focus and kept possession well, using the midfield to distribute the ball across the pitch and stretch the Canterbury line. The pressure continued to be applied until final Simon Hooper received the ball in the D and neatly tucked a reverse stick through the keepers’ legs. Alas, celebration was quickly replaced with frustration as the umpire had already blown the whistle to award a short.

Sensing that Canterbury were tiring, Ville returned again and again to the opposition D, winning short corner after short corner. Most opportunities were squandered, but one did make it through with a flick by simon Hooper that made it past the keeper. 1- 1  Ville were back in it and now they just needed a hero to step up and clinch the win.

Step forward Dave Hooper – with a slick cross by Sidders, the ball was fizzed into the Canterbury D. Dave received the ball and with some handy stick wizardry, he slotted it home to take Ville into the lead. 2 -1.

The last 15 minutes saw Canterbury pushing for a equaliser, but the Ville defence stood strong. It was too little too late.

Cliftonville, the small club from Thanet had beaten the Giants from Canterbury.

Up the Ville!

 MOM: Dave Hooper – outstanding work rate

DOD: Tom A – for nearly killing a player with a wayward reverse stick