On a hot sunny day in Grimsby, our Strollers 60+ B squad got a chance to mix it up with some of the Premier League teams.
Qualifying Group
Strollers B 1 (Jez H) Grimsby Ancient Mariners GLO 0
A solid start for our squad in a well contested game against the Ancient Mariners. Chances were fairly limited for both sides, and when Grimsby did break on us they found keeper Tony Fisher in great form. The deadlock was broken in the second half when Jez Hammant turned on goal. His goal bound shot took a deflection on the way through and left the Grimsby keeper no chance.
Strollers B 0 Grimsby Corinthians Red 2
Next up were the first of our Premiership opponents. In a game where we struggled to retain the ball giving away possession far too often from loose passing, our lads were beaten fair and square. Grimsby cruising to a comfortable two goal win.
Strollers B 0 Boston 1
Determined to put things right in the next game against a very strong Boston team fielding their international players, our team fought hard and dug in. Although Boston had the lions share of possession, the Stroller squad fought for every ball and had multiple chances on the break to equalise. The closet of these when Taff Lovesey fed the ball to Frank Smith, who’s shot was well saved by the keeper, the rebound bouncing to Jez Hammant on the edge of the area. Jez pounced on it and made a sweet little chip over the goalkeeper, only to see the ball bounce off the underside of the bar. Although a defeat, this was probably our best performance of the day, and kudos to our defenders in this one, Mark Beaver and John Phythian who worked tigerishly to keep Boston at bay.
These results gave our B squad a 3rd place slot in the qualifying stage and put us into the plate competition.
Plate Semi-Final Strollers B 1 (Jez Hammant) Grimsby Ancient Mariners MAC 0
A well deserved victory in the semi final against the other Ancient Mariners squad. The winner came courtesy of almost a replay of Jez Hammant’s first strike of the day, when he turned and finished neatly into the back of the net. No deflection required this time. Chances were fairly few and far between for both teams, but long strikes from Lovesey and Les Woods came close on a couple of occasions. Grimsby too had their chances, but Tony Fisher stood solid in the Strollers’ goal.
Plate Final Strollers B 0 Grimsby Ancient Mariners GLO 3
The day had a certain symmetry to it as our finalist opponents were the same team that we had beaten in match one earlier in the day. Both teams expected a tight game and that was exactly how it turned out, although two late goals would suggest otherwise in the scoreline. This was another game where chances were at a premium. Grimsby took an early lead when they pounced on a loose ball in midfield, the low grounded shot slipping into the right hand corner of the net. This had us chasing the game and although we had the greater share of possession, Grimsby covered back well and our chances were few. In one move some clever play from Smith laying the ball in to Hammant at the edge of the area opened up the goal. A wicked bounce took the ball slightly away from our striker though and he wasn’t able to connect cleanly with it. Half way through the second half, and with our lads tiring a little, a neat 1 – 2 opened us up and Grimsby went two ahead. The last few minute of the game saw us playing largely in the opponents half. We made a good chance to pull one back when Lovesey skipped past a few players in a very crowded defensive area, only for the keeper to make a superb save, changing direction to do so. With the game slipping away from us we pushed further and further forward to try to get a foot hold. This allowed Grimsby to break on us and they finished us off with a 3rd as the final whistle blew.
Squad: Fisher, Lovesey, Smith, Hammant, Woods, Phythian, Beaver