Year 10 Football Report
The Year 10s were looking to continue their fantastic start to the season, as they came up against local rivals Hundred of Hoo. Kicking up the slope in the first half, Strood looked like they were still basking in the glory of the previous week’s victory over Rainham Mark, as Hoo dominated the early exchanges.
Several last ditch tackles from the superb Pratt and Burgess kept the score at 0-0, and Strood did not spark into life until just before the break, when Cinar began to break the shackles on the right hand side, and Francois began to unsettle the Hoo defence.
Starting the second period at 0-0, Strood lost Parmenter to injury to be replaced by Staples, and the double substitution of Isaacs and Carter for Chapman and Neal soon followed. This seemed to give Strood fresh impetus, and Isaacs put Strood one up, with a neat side footed finish into the corner from 20 yards. Strood now looked to be dominating the game, with Smith and Lemoshe looking composed on the ball in midfield. Continued Strood pressure brought a series of corners, and after a couple of good deliveries from either side, Cinar took the Hoo keeper by surprise with a wicked curling corner that went straight in to put Strood 2 up.
Sensing the victory, Strood switched off, and some lapse defending allowed Hoo to get a goal back on the counter attack. With 5 minutes to go and Hoo pushing for an equaliser, Strood produced a counter-attack of their own, finishing with Francois hitting a superb lob over the Hoo keeper from the edge of the area. The drama did not end there though as Strood again switched off and allowed Hoo to score a second, after failing to clear the ball effectively. With a minute and a half to go there were thankfully no further scares and Strood could celebrate another victory. The message from Mr Vass and Mr Cogger was that the team need to be more ruthless and close games out when in front if they are to continue to do well in this league. The Year 10s play Greenacre at home on Wednesday and would welcome home support in their quest for Medway honours.