30/10/24: Blues 0-0 Loughborough II

After a strong performance last week against the Birmingham 1s the Blues went into this weeks game full of optimism and confidence.

The beginning of the match saw a spell of good chances created by a dynamic front three of Asa, Harry and Jesse. After Josiah hit the cross-bar it became clear that even the feared Loughborough 2s could be broken down. Two great runs by Deniz out of the Middlefield and some excellent defending by Maka against the left winger showed that this game was there for the taking. Asa played the ball to Tristan having made a superb overlapping run down the line which ended with Tristan standing face to face with the Loughborough CB. A piece of strong defending however meant that unfortunately nothing became of it. The back two of Hicks and Manthey kept things tight with Reece doing a tremendous job at CDM letting nothing pass him to see out the first half.

In the second half, a great interception and run down the line by Maka led to a powerful strike by Deniz. Another interception by Harry led to a strike that was just left of the post. Again, the Blues were taking control of the game as an ineffective Loughborough side were still struggling to break through a solid midfield and a very tight backline with Aram our GK staying awake and always there when he needed to be. With Aaron K, Teni and George now on the pitch the depth of the squad was being displayed as Aaron blocked the ball from a free kick and after a strong 1v1 allowed Manthey to knock a long ball to Teni which resulted in a strike on target with the keeper doing well. An excellent ball by George led to yet another shot on target this time by Asa. In the last 15 the blues sat back and yet a multitude of counter attacks from balls won by Josiah and Reece meant that the more dangerous chances remained those that the Blues had. Tristan kept the active new left winger in check with some serious 1v1 defending and after a great ball into the box by an opposing midfielder, Hicks managed to clear this with an excellent slide tackle. A couple minutes later the game ended with the Blues certainly believing that they could have come off that pitch with 3 points.

This marked another strong performance by the Blues once again heading confidently into next week against Loughborough 3s.