Match Report
Radley College Colts 1 vs  Abingdon School
On: Saturday, 09 Mar 2024
Venue: at Home

After enduring a gruelling two weeks of exams, we found ourselves facing off against Derby versus Abingdon. With little fuel in our systems after a meagre lunch, we arrived at the Astro, only to be greeted by the energetic beats of Katy Perry, courtesy of the Abingdon speakers, injecting us with a surge of confidence. Our warm-up, led by Beard involved the classic three-man weave drill.

As the game commenced, we struggled to find our rhythm, repeatedly giving away possession through careless passing, greatly upsetting Mr Jolly. This allowed Abingdon to seize control in the opening ten minutes of the first half. However, a sudden flick from Vice Captain Benny found the back of their net, putting us ahead 1-0. This shift in momentum proved crucial.

Yet, our focus waned, and Abingdon capitalised with two rather ordinary goals in the following five minutes, exploiting our lapses in concentration to take a 2-1 lead. This scoreline held until halftime, where we received stern words of encouragement for improvement while munching on our customary Haribos.

The second half began with a sharp push back from Jack to Beard, setting the tone for our resurgence. Our midfielders and attackers orchestrated plays with precision, executing moves we had honed in training by smashing the ball into the 'p-spot'. This rattled Abingdon, leading to a short corner opportunity, which Beard converted with finesse to level the score at 2-2, albeit with some uncertainty about the intentionality of the deflection.

Our relentless possession-based style wore down the Abingdon players, culminating in a swift counter-attack finished off by Glassey, who navigated past multiple defenders before slotting the ball into the bottom left corner, putting us ahead 3-2.

Hungry for more, we maintained our dominance, ignoring the need for a half-court press. Despite our efforts, we couldn't find another goal but held strong defensively, denying Abingdon's attempts at the death.

The final whistle blew, and Radley emerged victorious with a hard-earned 3-2 win. Benny, Beard (scoring his first goal of the season), and Glassey all etched their names onto the scoresheet, while Butters narrowly missed out on a hat-trick of cards. Next up, we face Bradfield (A) in the season's last game, aiming to secure our fifth consecutive win.

Archie Read