The Jags took on Lichfield City Boys in what developed into the best game of mini soccer we have ever been involved in. Despite only two goals in the game it could have easily been five or six each after a thrilling forty minutes from two committed teams.
The Jags suffered an early scare when having given the ball away cheaply from the kick off Lichfield’s ‘play maker’ Nils Priestley ran through the defence and sliced his shot wide. It was the wake up call the Jags needed as they then proceeded to launch a wave of attacks that had Lichfield on the back foot for the majority of the first half. A combination of good goal keeping and solid defending kept the Jags at bay until against the run of play Lichfield scored out of nowhere! Priestley really was the stand out player in the game, considerably bigger than any of the players on either team he was at the heart of everything Lichfield created and he fired them into the lead from an almost impossible angle as his shot came from nearer the corner flag than the Jags goal.
It’s at this point during games where the Jags have made significant improvements to their approach to football, their heads certainly didn’t drop and they continued to pressure Lichfield’s defense and went into the half time break still in the ascendancy!
The second half continued in the same vein as both sides attacked each other at will but the Jags had the slight disadvantage of playing against their home pitches’ slope and it wasn’t long before heavy legs kicked in and changes needed to be made.
The fast improving Brandon Garrett then continued the attacking option on the left hand side with his mazy runs and he alone had several half chances to get the Jags back on level terms. More chances came and went at both ends with Man of the Match Josh Price keeping everyone calm with an assured display in goal.
As the clocked ticked down the Jags threw bodies forward in search of the deserved equaliser. With 30 seconds left on the clock a well worked throw in found it’s way into the box and Brandon Garrett smashed home a first time shot to send the home fans bonkers!
It goes to show how far the Jags have come as they ran round punching the air when the final whistle was then blown and the Lichfield players were gathered in for a stern post match debrief, but they also should be very proud of the efforts in making this a memorable tie. The reality was they came to win and expected the win but the Jags are slowly starting to believe in themselves and what they might be able to achieve. The last two weeks has seen them draw against sides that beat them convincingly last season and their hard work is now starting to reap the rewards in this very tough division!!!
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