Report

Purley Jubilee Tournament.

With the recent bad weather having caused the cancellation of the large Ascot and Sandhurst Tournaments we were perhaps a little fortunate that the Purley Jubilee event escaped the deluge.

With Eldon Celtic in full effect and having clearly been actively recruiting from other clubs it was apparent from the outset that we would have our work cut out if we wanted to progress.

First up were Eldon Celtic Whites and despite a battling performance we lost 1-0. An excellent George Horniblow header gave us the lead against AFC Caversham, but slack defending from a throw in levelled the scores but we held on for our first point.

A George Hopes double gave us a 2-1 win over our old rivals Barton Rovers. Just as we seemed to be getting into our stride, two 1-0 defeats to Purley Jubilee and Eldon Celtic Whites set us back. In the latter match George Horniblow was outstanding in goal and produced a string of excellent saves.

A poor performance against Reeves Rangers (3-0) meant that we needed a win against Kennet Valley to move into the Plate competition. A great pass from Austyn put George Hopes in on goal and his cool chip over the advancing keeper put us in front and we held on to win 1-0.

We were then left with a longish wait for our next game and with a walkover in the semi-final we were then straight into the final against Kennet Valley. I think it is fair to say that we went off the boil whilst we were waiting and conceded an early goal from an unlucky deflection. With Kennet having played a semi final game it was clear that they were still buzzing from that match and run out worthy winners 3-0.

Today was a chance to get back into competitive match play and blow away some of cob-webs caused by the recent bad weather. We were very much like the proverbial curates egg today, when we good we were good, but when we were bad……………..!

Special mention to George Horniblow, who made his competitive debut for the Colts today. He showed up well on the pitch but reserved his best performances for between the sticks with a string of quality saves.

Next up is the Reading Town tournament on Sunday the 27^th. Steve is also trying to set up some Nine a side friendlies so please watch this space for news on this front.

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Simon Raymond