Troopers triumphant!

Defensively, the Troopers resembled the Liverpool teams of the ’80s, with James S and Jordan playing very well together at centre back and Amin and Charlie also having good games - keeping the Swifts attacks at bay for most of the match.  When the Swifts did break through, Sam W was back to his best in goal and either collected the ball or did enough to put the Swifts attackers off their stride.  Over the course of the match, our midfield (resembling the Manchester United teams of the ’90s in terms of grit and determination) consisted of, Darius, Matt, Sam C, Kyle, James L and Tom, with Tino, Ally and Olly forming the Troopers attack (think 2011 Real Madrid!).

The Swifts scored first, during one of the very few attacks to get through the Trooper’s defence and a mature finish saw the ball slipped past an advancing Sam W.  Tino levelled the score shortly after in the second half with a great strike.  This improved the Trooper’s confidence no end and, despite a very close call with a Swifts cross bouncing along only a few inches across the front of the Troopers’ goal, the boys got back to playing the sort of football we’ve seen them play at training on Monday nights.  This display was capped off with a late Troopers surge, which ended with Ally Howe rolling a tricky, bouncing effort past the Swifts’ goalkeeper five minutes from time! 

Without exception, the boys all played well and played their part in winning the match so the Man of the Match award was given to the whole team in recognition of such a good team effort.