Home match win against the Gladiators!
Star Strike 10 - 3 Heanor Gladiators
by Trevor Stocker
With the sun shining our home ground we welcomed the Heanor Gladiators for our first home match!
Prince got the boys warmed up and ready for the match, our starting 5 were Messiah in goal, Oscar in defence, Dhivyanth, Ramsey and Raheem taking up the front.
From the starting whistle we put pressure onto the Heanor team with two early chances from Raheem just going wide and a third into the arms of the keeper. The early pressure paid off though with the first goal of the match coming to Raheem!
We were straight back at them after the whistle with another chance for Ramsey this time going wide.
A little push back from the Gladiators push use back into our half for a throw in which Oscar took. A good throw over the defending players opened it up for Dhivyanth to score our second goal!
As the match settled down it was a little scrappy in midfield, but the Start Strike boys seemed to have the upper hand in the tackles, resulting in further chances for Raheem and Dhivyanth.
Push back from the Gladiators caught us out as they took advantage of us being high up the pitch clawing them back with 2 quick goals levelling the score line to 2-2 for the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter saw the fresh legs of Daniel, Sebastien, Parker, and Victor take the game back to the Gladiators and a chip in saw the Heanor boys take the lead to 3-2.
We didn’t give up though as Parker and Sebastian both had chances that were stopped at the goal posts! Supported by the cheering fans!
Shortly after from a brilliant free kick Daniel, the ball founds its way across the line for 3-3! Back in the game! Victor had another chance with a great strike to the arms of the keeper though this time leaving us a level scores for the final two quarters!
The crowd were delighted by a real battle in the third quarter, and I think the lack on substitutes on their part gave us an advantage as they tired from the challenges. The third quarter saw two great goals in a real team effort from Messiah ad Dhivyanth. Taking us with a great advantage into the fourth and final quarter!
Victor asked for a chance to play in strike position in the final quarter and boy did he step up! With the gladiators tiring we were able to take advantage of our lead. We saw some great passing skills from the boys to work up the pitch including some great goal keeping from Ramsey, who helped us keep a clean sheet in the second two quarters. We completely dominated the final quarter with a flurry of goals.
The first well deserved for Sebastian who did some great work across the midfield to find the back on the net taking us to 6-3. Victor then wowed the Start Strike fans with a hat-trick! Strong on his feet he battled well through the defence to find the back of the net on three occasions.
The final goal of the match again was well deserved came to Parker, he didn’t give up and passed with the others to work up another great goal.
Today’s victory was a real team effort with the other boys supporting from the sidelines. Great passing saw us open up the game. Certainly a few things to work on in training though, defensively taking the ball up the pitch and passing to our players not setting the opponents up, throw ins and spreading out to use the space on the pitch better. If you can make the training sessions it is important to come along and build the team skills and spirit, which undoubtedly helped us today.
Great celebrations at the final whistle with Man of the Match being awarded to Victor!
Fun in the sun for our first home match!
Players: Messiah & Ramsey (GK), Oscar (Captain) Daniel, Raheem, Sebastian, Dhivyanth, Parker, Victor
Scorers:Raheem, Messiah, Daniel, Victor (HAT-TRICK!), Sebastien, Parker, Dhivyanth (2)
Man of the Match: Victor
Coach: Prince
Match played in 4 x 10 minute quarters
