A double header weekend for the 5s

Due to a rearranged fixture, Hertford 5s faced the daunting challenge of 2 games in 2 days against two strong oppositions. Luckily Balls Park proved to be our home fortress, with all 6 points claimed.
First up came a visit from the friendly Shefford & Sandy, who always prove to be a handful. However our very effective backline of Lee, Tony, Dorian and Chris kept them very quiet all game, with the team in green failing to record a shot on target in the first half. It was the polar opposite at the other end of the pitch - we opened up the scoring after 6 minutes after a typical driving run down the right from Jasper who then pinged in a perfect pin-point cross to the P spot to the waiting Matt Earle to finish with 1 touch. 10 minutes later skipper Josh doubled the lead, receiving the ball with his back to goal before turning the defender and slapping onto the backboard for a rare open play goal. Just 1 minute after that, Dan Livings stretched further than anyone else would have managed to get on the end of a classic Darren cross/shot onto the far post to make it 3-0 going into half time.
Matt grabbed his second just 5 minutes into the first half, with Chris feeding it brilliantly into the D floor Matt to beat his man and finish. Darren couldn’t stand to see other people scoring more than him in a game so brought himself on again to make it 5-0. S&S scored two short corners in relatively quick succession to make it 5-2, but they ended up being consolation goals. Matt bagged his hat trick in the 68th minute, Darren uncharacteristically passing it to him inside the D. Again it may have been a shot, I can’t remember. Overall a fantastic attacking display with some sublime passing moves, particularly in the first 20 minutes where we looked absolutely class. One of my favourite games of the season and an excellent way to start the weekend.
The next day we welcomed Bedford vets. The team talk was clear - don’t run into them , use our pace and pass it round them. The entire team forgot that for the first 30 minutes. Bedford dominated possession and forced Sam Timms into several smart saves (they lovingly referred to him as a “jammy b***ard” afterwards in the bar). We even avoided a penalty flick claim after Sam decided to fence with their centre forward, but the decision correctly was a short as nobody had the ball under control. Sam would have saved the flick anyway! Despite the heroics of our back line (including a welcome return for the now bald Max Hawkins, I’m sure he has just copied the captain) Bedford went 1-0 up and continued to threaten. Eventually we found our rhythm and won a short corner - skipper Josh made the call for the short slip to him which was met by eye rolls and “if you’re sure” by his teammates. Something to do with him missing 4 shorts the previous day. Luckily he remembered how to hit a ball this time and found the bottom right corner to equalise. 4 minutes later we gained the lead, with Ben driving it up the wing before slapping forward to Jason in the D who found himself 1 on 1 with the keeper and finished well from the ground.
In the second half we were much more in the groove. We kept the ball much more and took advantage of the tiring legs of our opponents. They gave up chasing our runners and we broke away several times, grabbing a 3rd when Matt threaded it through to Tim who neatly beat the keeper and finished on his reverse. Everyone worked hard and kept them relatively quiet for the remainder of the game, but we were unable to stop them getting another well worked goal late in the second half. Overall we definitely deserved the win in what was an exciting and well mannered game, and a great way to round off our 6 pointer weekend.
Josh