M6 vs Ely City M2s

Goalscorer Geoff Gibbs

Player of the Match Ben J

The huge fan base was once again lucky to have a pleasant evening to cheer on the City M6s vs Ely M2s at Wilberforce Road.

During the warm up, when describing the opposition, one City player noted: “They are much younger than us and will be fitter”. The individual, who won’t be named to save his embarrassment, was clearly worried he might have to stretch his legs more than he’d hoped. Shortly after this comment, the shy and retiring keeper, Rod, stated he had a knee injury and was hoping for a quiet game. Thankfully, not all the old men were grumbling and the game commenced without any more complaints!

In truth, for a good part of the first half City struggled to find any rhythm and as early as the second minute the City keeper was forced into a save. The M6 competitive spirit was soon in evidence as Nigel Anns was warned any more complaining about umpires decisions and he’d be given the green card….that was after 4 mins! Would there be any City players left on the pitch at full time?

Often allowing the opposition significant possession, City were happy to hit on the break and some tireless running from the forwards Raphael and Ben gave City a few half chances. One such chance, an attempted shot by Ben from just inside the area, resulted in him hitting the opposition defender on the leg really rather hard, this was shortly followed by a chant of “well payed City” by one of our more senior players. Surely this was a reference to the excellent build up play rather than for wiping out the opposition?!

Ely continued to probe and their clever short corner routine resulted in an excellent save from Rod. At the other end of the pitch, Oilver and Raphael combined really well down the right to give Ben a chance to strike with a tomahawk but he sadly dragged his shot narrowly wide. Shortly after, more excellent work by Ben resulted in his shot being well saved and soon after this Nigel Anns blazed over from a short corner.

Ely then had an attack thwarted by the City keeper in a rather unconventional way. Rod (perhaps due to his pre-match sore knee) chose to sit down and save their shot with a two footed challenge….it certainly worked so the City defence were not complaining!

More fine running and stick skills from Ben saw a tomahawk shot well saved by the Ely keeper but the ever wily Geoff Gibbs had anticipated the save and ran at full speed (reliably clocked at 2mph) to tap in at the back post from 2 inches out! Not bad for someone about to celebrate his 73rd birthday (The Regal, Revs, Vinyl and Trailer of Life if you're interested).

The second half was far more open with both teams creating chances, City’s experienced back line held firm with some excellent charging out from short corners by Thomas and more saves from Rod thwarting Ely’s attempts to get back into the game.

Tim Willan, rolling back the years, was reinventing himself as a flying wing back and was creating all sorts of problems for the opposition. Sadly his enthusiasm for these surges up front resulted in a muscle injury and he had to retire from the game (thankfully the injury was not too bad, as he was able to walk to the bar after the game a buy a beer!).

Towards the end of the game a fantastic mazy run from Oliver almost resulted in a goal with his shot being well saved by the Ely keeper. Thomas also had a terrific run from right-back, entering the D and shooting just wide.

Not surprisingly, there was still time for at least one City player to receive the now customary green card. Congratulations go to Stuart Perry for this week’s ticking off by the umpire!

Quote of the week:-

Upon walking to the bar after the game, one of the younger contingent said he was tired to which Bill Davidson replied “Young people are not allowed to get tired on the pitch; that is the role of the seniors”

Well played M6s, that’s 5 wins in a row. Keep up the good work.