U13B v The Oratory

The U13B team made the long coach journey through Oxfordshire villages to The Oratory Senior School for a fast and restless football match, though, despite their reservations, the final score was a pleasant result on a damp day…

We walked to their pitches, the wind blowing and an unpleasant drizzle moistening the air. Dreading the 40 minutes of football in front of us, the whistle blew for kick-off. The ball went back and forth for what seemed like an even match, with their striker often breaking through the surprised defence, yet stopped by a great tackle from Hugh, Dylan or Rafael or a seemingly impossible save from Ayush.

We were getting into the match, however, when in about the 11th minute, Ryan tackled a defender, and passed to our captain, Joe, who dribbled past another defender and put it in the back corner!

After a quick celebration, Mr Davidson set our formation slightly back on the defending foot. There were places at the end of the first half where The Oratory got through, but with a combination of incredulous tackles or jaw-dropping saves from Ayush, it was kept out of our goal until the half-time whistle was blown.

When the second half began, The Oratory were constantly getting through, and we were beginning to expect a goal from them. Approximately eight minutes into the half, our left winger, Scott, put his shot away… however, a foul was seemingly called, so it was dis-counted. Five minutes after this, Joe tackled their midfield, and passed it above ground to Scott, who took a couple touches, and, pressured by the defence, put his left foot under the ball and scored a goal, filling our hearts with hope!

The game grew fast and restless; The Oratory now struggling to get past the indestructible line of defence that held strong. Then, in the final minute, Ryan received the ball with a tackle, and dribbled down the wing to hit it in at the near post in the final play. In the end, it was a 3-0 victory for the Under 13 second team.

Hugh and Ryan, Year 8