AND THE BATTLE CONTINUES WITH TWO REMAINING

Today proves to be a continuation of the ongoing battle for domination between Woodbridge Strikers and Richmond Hill Raiders. As stated in yesterday's blog this game was an assessment of the entire team.

The Raiders came with their game face on, ready for a win and yes the game started as we expected it to, with them pressing Woodbridge player for player, they were on our boys like white on rice.

The Raiders dominated the first few minutes of the game with most of the plays centered in our half of the field as if they thought Cristian needed to be warmed up some more. The Strikers however, were able to put a stop to that by engaging in their style of soccer...slick quick passes and got the game back into motion in the opponent's half of the field. Not to the Raiders liking, they resorted to playing a more physical game of soccer.  Making dangerous slide tackles, football tackles and of course tripping.This got most of the parents concerned as none of us wanted to see any of the players injured from either team.

The referee seem to turn a blind eye to most of the unfair plays while four of our players are sitting on the sideline being treated for injuries they acquired during the first half of play resulting in the physio actually working. At this point parents were so nervous that you could hear some uttering that maybe this game is not worth getting our boys injured over and maybe we should just forfeit the game.

Woodbridge Strikers manage to go up one to nothing close to the end of the official halftime. It was a superb free kick taken by Isaiah, but David in net for the Raiders could not collect it cleanly and it fell onto the leathal boot of Ethan who calmly dispatched it into the back of the net  sending the large Woodbridge Strikers fan base in an uproar.

At the start of the second half the Strikers were relentless in their pursuit of getting more goals. With only two substitution physically available the coaches resorted to positional changes with players on the field. It paid dividend immediately with Isaiah latching onto a perfectly weighted pass from Marco, Isaiah out paced his defender and brilliantly slotted it into Raiders net to go up 2:0. The foot stomping in celebration of the goal was fitting tribute to our boys.

The game in its entirety proved that Strikers can manoeuvre themselves regardless of the tactics or tactical deployment by their opponents. The boys were verbal in communication, quick in breaking up plays and cutting off the passing lane. Also, picking up players on set plays.
The 2-0 scoreline is not a true reflection of the Strikers dominance in the final third. It was due to some brilliant saves by the Raiders keeper.

Our boys played with great class and sportsmanship demonstrating how soccer should be played by showcasing their skills and abilities throughout the game.

Please give treatment to the boys that are nursing injuries.

Assessment # 1. A++👍👍⚽🥅