The popular District 6-a-side football competition took place on Sunday 8 July 2007 at Binfield Football Club. We entered 2 teams from Cubs and also a team of Beavers.

Beavers

We don't have a match report for the Beavers competition but they won the league so well done to all concerned.

2nd Bracknell Bears - match report by Lynne Hughes

The 2^nd Bracknell Bears team were scaringly awesome:  Alex E in goal, Matthew L in defence/midfield, Sam B in defence/midfield, Sam H in attack, Chris F in attack and Tom H also in attack - an unusual, but successful formation!

We kicked off the first match against 6^th Bracknell who put out a mixed team.  Straight away we had control and Chris & Matthew secured our first goal within the first minute.  There followed some aggressive teamwork resulting in Sam H scoring our second goal and another attack gave Chris the opportunity to pop in the third goal - and only half time!  Alex and Thomas basically had a rest as they were both playing at the back in this game and had little to do.  In the second half, Sam H and then Chris scored another goal each bringing the final score to 5-0 to us!

Our next game was against 4^th Bracknell Hawks and it was a much more even game with our team working hard in the defence with Matthew and Sam B while our attack pushed forward all the time led by Chris and Sam H.  Sam H was playing hard and had a great run down the wing, passing the ball to Chris who scored our first goal leaving the match at 1-0 at half time.  The second half started with strong attack and the teams hard work resulted in 2 more goals - from Chris and Sam H.  Overall a 3-0 win!

Well, we were on a high and faced the toughest team of the competition with confidence - Binfield Robins.   The were a strong team and managed to finally give our goalie some work to do as well as stretching our defence of Sam B and Matthew.  They managed to score an early goal and then pushed us hard resulting in a 3-0 lead at half time.  We came back strongly, but they still managed to slip in a couple of lucky goals.  Sam H, Chris and Sam B worked valiantly up front supported by Tom H, Matthew and Alex worked hard in defence, but the final score was 5-0 to them.

Our final game was against South Ascot and this was a hard fought, close match.  Sam H made dramatic runs down the field, crossing to Chris who battled to get the ball in the net, Sam B tackled hard and played up front supporting the attack, Matthew played hard at the back and Tom ran the field.  Unfortunately, South Ascot managed to score one goal and, despite the teams best efforts we were not able to score during the match and we came off having suffered a 1-0 defeat.

Now the wait to see who would make it through to the semis: we had equal points to 2 other teams - but, due to our great first two wins, our goal difference was the best and we took our well-deserved place in the semi-final.

The semi was against a very strong team: Sunningdale.  We kept the same format - and Sam H had numerous shots on goal only to be thwarted by their goalie.  Chris covered the length of the pitch in seconds - leading our attack and rushing back to help the defence, Sam B played everywhere as well - up front and the supporting the defence as needed.  Matthew and Alex were kept very busy in defence and Tom played mid-field.   Despite all our efforts, Sunningdale proved too good and we lost by 4-0.

Overall, it was a great day; the team played like champions and justly deserved their place in the semi final!

2nd Bracknell Tigers - match report by Mike Maughan

The Tigers started the tournament challenge against the 4^th Bracknell Eagles. As I knew little about the players (apart from James of course), they selected their positions. With numbers a little thin due to a couple of “no shows” Amy guested from the Beavers in the first game and played really well in midfield, supported by Cameron Y. Daniel and Cameron M defended well, Luke was full of running up front and James solid in goal. Few chances and we lost 1 – 0 to a well taken shot in the first half.

Second game was against Sunningdale (eventual finalists) who had clearly played together before; some positional changes giving Cameron M a go in goal and pushing James up front. Alistair came in for Amy who returned to the Beavers. Tactics nearly worked in the first minute when James had a first time shot well saved. Some solid defending from Daniel before we lost 2 quick goals and just couldn’t break down the defence.

So played 2 lost 2, time to throw caution to the wind ……..

Against Binfield Wrens we played 3 up front, led by Daniel, giving Luke a go in goal and played the “cavalry charge tactic”. It worked!! 2 goals from Daniel and 1 each for Alistair and Cameron Y. The defence leaked 2 but who cares, 4 goals in one match. Qualification for the latter stages was possible!!

So into the final game, we had to win by 2 clear goals so the attack option was again used; James dropping to defence and everyone else pressing on. Daniel again showed why Newcastle scouts are watching him (possibly not true but the author is a toon fan!!), by powering through and scoring early on. Sadly attack turned to limited defence as the 6 started to wilt in the heat (no subs to use) and 1 – 0 became 1 – 2 in a matter of minutes. There was some hope when Cameron M equalised, but sadly 1^st Ascot scored a third to end all hopes of progression. At the final whistle they were a bit down, but had given their best against better players.

Played 4, Won 1, Lost 3. Goals for 6, goals against 8.

Overall the winner today was teamwork and a sense of fun. Everyone had a good go and played where they asked (sorry Luke you had 2 goes in goal but I was using pace and power over skill on the ball) and with a bit more luck we could have won!!

Next year we will start training in April?