Mens 7s vs Colchester M4

Back in Colchester to play the team topping Division 5. Colchester always provides a challenging and exciting game and last Saturday was no exception. Magpies were virtually unchanged with a number of players rising from their sick beds so as not to let the team down. They arrived on the pitch confident that the game against a mainly adult team was not going to be beyond a win.

The Colchester team began the first half with some strong play and Magpies had to focus on being tight in defence and creative in attack. Even so, after about twenty minutes of unremitting attack, Colchester scored past a stranded Magpie’s defence. But this goal did not deter Magpies in fact they fought even harder to make up for their mistake. Within five minutes the forwards managed to win a penalty corner and a massive strike by Noah S heard the ball thud against the backboard to bring the scores level.

In the second half the play was evenly spread until again, Magpie’s secured yet another penalty corner. And yet again, Noah stepped forward as striker and yet again was able to blast the ball firmly past a stranded Colchester keeper to give the development players the lead.

Now it became a fight to hold the lead. The pressure from Colchester was immense. Noah in goal was making some terrific saves and on one occasion, Luca was there to stop the ball crossing the line and to clear it out of the danger area. As the pressure built, a misplaced pass from the Magpie’s defence gave Colchester an opportunity to level and sure enough the shot was flicked high into the goal beyond the reach of Noah.

A 2 - 2 score at the beginning of the season would have been welcomed by all members of the squad and the coaches. But the progress made in the first half of the season has meant they feel that 2 - 2 is no longer good enough. The team really believes they are able to challenge any team in East Division 5 and are looking forward to showing they can be a top four finisher in 2025.

Very well done to all the players. Thank you to James, David and Richard for their help and support on the pitch and thank you to Rae for keeping the subs rolling. Thank you also to all the parents and friends for their positive support and their appreciation of a well coached/ managed team