First Team Report:
by Bren CoopeyThe short story is that Cardiff's first team lost, thanks to Exeter scoring several impressive long shots that amazed our team. As the game began the score was close, with both Exeter and Cardiff finding the net in the first few minutes, with our goal courtesy of a close snap shot by Steve. But Exeter took use of the home advantage and were soon sending home long shots from the half-way line. Despite close efforts by all of Cardiff's team, particularly Ramzi and Craig, Exeter found themselves with a run-away first half.
With the score at 7-1 in Exeter's favour, Cardiff attempted to re-establish themselves by relying on old tactics- Amy S. scored a running-in goal and Ramzi soon followed with a classic long shot. The game became played much smarter for the remainder, with both teams tightening on defence. When Exeter scored their eighth, Iwan responded with a short shot. When Exeter found their ninth, Amy S. got revenge with another running-in goal. But just before the end Exeter put the last nail in the coffin, with Cardiff's first team losing 10-5. As usual, we remained sporting- sporting in the silently-cursing-but-openly-congratulating-the-opposition way.
Second Team Report:
by Bren CoopeyThe second team game proved to be much closer than that of the first team and resulted in another win for our reserve players. Whilst Cardiff sported a starting line-up of players who had all joined this year, Exeter included several first team players to try and give us the run-around. And they certainly did try.
The game began in Cardiff's favour as James hit the target with a running-in shot that was, as Alan Partridge would say, textbook. Exeter quickly responded with a long shot to level the score. This stalemate continued for 10 minutes as both defences stood strong, but Rhian found herself open for a long shot that looped into the basket. Moments later Lou gave Captain Bren an opening and he buried a shot from the half-way line, giving Cardiff a 3-1 lead. As half-time approached, Exeter found another goal to close the gap.
With only a small gap for water and toilet breaks, the game resumed with Exeter revitalised. They quickly levelled the score and then took the lead as their first team players excelled past our defence. Rhian became injured whilst trying to grab a collect and was subbed for Amy M. It took a while to come, but Cardiff equalised after Captain Bren picked up a loose ball and performed a quick 1-2 pass with Lou, allowing him to pop home a mid-range shot. With the score tied, both teams tried to take the lead, with close attempts from Dave and Sally bouncing off the basket. Finally a goal was scored and we took the lead again, thanks to James' second running-in goal of the game. Exeter pressured the Cardiff defence for the last few minutes of the game, but superb defending, particularly from Nathan, denied them a clean shot. When the whistle blew, Cardiff's second team celebrated another win by giving Exeter three hearty cheers.
And for those wondering, Nathan did indeed fall over during the game. He is not a man to break tradition after all.
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