Bracknell Town Pumas 3 vs 0 Binfield Lions

Match report by; Rob Mack In April last year, Bobby played for Whitegrove against the undefeated Bracknell FC Pumas who were about to join the A Section. Whitegrove (missing 3 top players… Douglas, Ben &  Michael) won 4 -1, easy! In October, the Lions played a friendly against the Pumas and it was quite apparent, that they had brought in new players and upped their game a wee bit.   In recent weeks, it was brought to Binfield’s Secret Service’s attention (none other than DaddyO7), that many of  Bracknell FC Pumas were attending “E.P.C.” every Friday. Nobody knew what “E.P.C.” stood for; so an under-cover spy (Bobby) and DaddyO7 went to investigate.   Our agents reported that E.P.C. stood for “Elite Preparation Centre”; a training centre to focus on, and develop skills required to become a pro football player. Not just ball skills, but instilling self-belief, pride and confidence in players. Our under-cover agent was impressed and noted significant improvements in Bracknell FC player’s skills, abilities and attitudes compared to previous sightings.   Two weeks ago, the E.P.C. players were running around wearing parachutes. We did not see any aeroplanes, so one must assume they were running so fast, they needed parachutes to slow down! Last Friday, they did some awesome passing, shooting and defence training. Although Binfield’s under-cover agent was one of the top scorers and defenders in the session; Binfield’s Secret agent (Daddy07) was very concerned….. This session was a big confidence boost; and they were not wearing silly parachutes to slow them down!   Which brings us to the match; Bracknell started off strongly and were piling on pressure from kick off. Joe made a fantastic save, where his sight of the ball was partially blocked by one of our players; he leapt across goal and pushed the ball wide. A Fantastic Save! Joe, Cam, Jack, TJ., OH., Harvey and Ollie worked double-time to keep the ball out of our net.   After 9 minutes, of hard defending, we got our first shot at goal from a run down the left wing by Ollie. If only their Goalie had fumbled the save; Harvey was in a perfect position to pop the ball in the back of the net. Ollie and Harvey tried another run, but Bracknell defended and counter attacked with another shot at goal, this time deflected by OH! We then had another amazing save by Joe pushing the ball just wide of the bottom corner.   It was TJ’s turn to attack; he had an amazing run down the right wing, with a Bracknell defender pressuring him all the way, forcing a corner.   In a great counter attack by Bracknell, we seen their midfielder make a great run down the wing, then blast the ball in the back of our net.   TJ Counter attacked again; and yet again a Bracknell defender had used super-glue to attach himself to TJ’s shoulder from the half way line. TJ managed to win another corner.   Hazza and Bobby joined the field and pretty soon, Bobby was rubbing shoulders with the Pumas’ defence, literally getting pushed off the ball. Bobby managed to win a corner, which was taken by Hazza who sailed the ball into the box. While trying to make the save, the goalie managed to poke Bobby in the Eye as he tried to head the ball into the net! Ouch! Then somebody mistook his big toe for the ball and scrunched that too! Ouch Twice!   Next on the attack was Cool Smooth Jack; sprinting from inside our half! If he had seen the look on the face of the guy that was chasing him, he would have run twice as fast! J Jack managed to out-pace the midfielder, but was soon shoulder to shoulder with Bracknell’s defence who tipped the ball out for another corner.   {Confidential Memo from Agent DaddyO7 to Team; Options for dealing with said pesky defender; a) Dig hole for Defender to fall into when running down wing, b) Tie Defender’s Laces Together, c) Put Superglue on Defenders boots so he is stuck in one place; d) Pass to other strikers}   Bracknell were effectively defending from the half-way line, making sure we did not get a shot at goal; Worse still… it was working. Just before half time, Bracknell took a corner that sailed the ball into our box; We were lucky they missed their header and again, the unmarked striker at the back post.   In the second half, Bracknell was back on the attack, with a lunge down the centre. Jack did an excellent job, forcing the striker to make an awkward pass to another attacker; Joe made another outstanding save, diving at the player’s feet! We counter attacked with a great Ball from Hazza, to OH coming in from the left, supported by Bobby on the right; Before he could take the shot, OH won a free kick; which just scraped over the bar.   Shortly afterwards, Joe was under pressure again; clashing with attackers, making more great saves; Harvey, OH, Ollie, Hazza, Cam and Joe were working overtime!  Bracknell’s Left winger then hit an unlucky clearance rebound and we were down another goal.   In our Game against West Byfleet the previous week, our defence was attacking; meeting the opposition at the halfway line and pushing the ball back up front. We were passing to our strikers when they got into space! In this game, our defence and midfield, was often in our goal area, waiting for Bracknell’s unmarked players to take a shot.   The Pumas were awarded a free kick within striking distance of Goal; Hazza headed the ball away from Goal! A very brave, excellent piece of defending!   After successfully defending yet another attack, Hazza made a great cross to Harvey, who then made an awesome run down the left wing, with Bobby drawing a defender on the right. Sadly a Pumas defender managed to get his foot to the ball, pushing it out for yet another corner. Harvey will not Hesitate next time! He will blast the ball through the net for good measure! I can see it happening now!..  From the corner, Hazza placed a perfect high ball into the area; Bobby connected but his header was a wee bit high of the goal; Great Effort!   TJ and Bobby pushed down the right for another strike at goal, saved by their keeper. The Pumas were soon back, testing our defence; CAM made a fabulous header clearance.   Ollie made another run at goal, but was intercepted by a Puma defender. We counter attacked Again; and again Bobby had two defenders literally on top of him, forcing another corner.   The Pumas were soon in our half again; and after a clash with an attacker that bowled over Cam, the loose ball rolled straight to an unmarked attacker who blasted the ball at point blank range. Pumas 3 Lions Nil L.   TJ made another fine run down the wing in the last minute of play; distracted by the opposition players shouting kick it out. In the confusion, the defender managed to block the ball and TJ’s foot with a banana skin; TJ went flying. It was a fair tackle, no goal, no free kick; Final Whistle.   Lessons we can learn from this game; 1.      The Pumas defended from the moment we got the ball, they were on top of our attackers the moment we crossed into their half; They forced corner, after corner, after corner and defended their corners well. 2.      They did a Good Job of coming back and marking our players and intercepting passes. 3.      They were very quick to counter attack with fast accurate passing and getting players back into our half; and they attacked in force; Their midfield and defence supported the attack. 4.      They were not worried about who scored; they looked for players in space and made good passes to those players. This is what helped them counter-strike so quickly.   The Lions played significantly better than results show… considering the work in midfield; defence; in goal; the number of corners won, saves, over the bar; However; If we had played as we did in the West Byfleet, Ascot or Whitegrove Games, the result would very likely have been different. In those games, our defence attacked the opposition strikers, we pushed the ball to midfielders and strikers in space. We marked the Opposition so much better!   MOM; Hazza   A Special thanks to Bracknell FC Pumas, who played some fantastic football!!, also to the Ref, the Coaches and Managers and Parents for all their support.

Bracknell Town Pumas 3 vs 0 Binfield Lions

Bracknell Town Pumas 3 V 0 Binfield Lions

More match reports from the team

Arctic Lions!

Free flowing - Free kicks!

Solid if not spectacular

Roaring Success

What a cruel game....

Bracknell Town Pumas 3 v 0 Binfield Lions

West Byfleet 1 v 3 Binfield Lions

Are you looking for something? Search the Grassroots Football Directory...

Get the ultimate app for your team.