Wereys O45s Cup campaign curtailed on penalty strokes
10 December 2023: An away draw to last year’s cup finalists Rugby and East Warwickshire, and with eight of the O45s squad unavailable, this was always going to be a tough fixture in the EH Tier 2 championships.
Despite another miserable wet day, a determined Wereys went out with a clear game plan to keep possession and keep play simple. With just 12 players the key focus was teamwork and making the ball do the work, and this was executed like a dream. The O45s demonstrated some lovely linking play down both flanks and good transfers around the back.
Against the run of play, Rugby earned a short corner which they calmly converted through a clean strike. Shortly after, following some slightly sloppy marking, unfortunately Rugby increased their lead with a well-worked goal from open play. However Wereys weren’t down and out, and fought back strongly, earning a corner which Petra neatly slapped in at the far post.
A rousing half time chat from manager Sheriden spurred on Wereys for the second half and, just a few minutes from push back, another corner was won; Caroline perfectly deflected the ball into the net from Cath’s strike.
2-2 game on!
The game flowed from end to end – a cracking watch for an impartial spectator. Rugby eventually broke the deadlock with a controversial goal awarded by the umpire, although no one seemed entirely sure (including the umpire!) whether an attacker had actually touched the ball in the D. Wereys continued to press high looking for another goal. Heidi pushed forward from left defence, smashed a ball into the circle to find Nat whose sublime touch goalwards brought the match level once again.
3-3 at the final whistle, time for penalty strokes. Full credit to those who stepped up and took a penalty with both Haysie and Jay being on target, but sadly Rugby were more successful converting four of their strokes. A disappointing end to the O45s campaign but we bowed out with a performance to be proud of.
So, that’s it for the Wereys O45s this season. However, we still have everything to play for in the West O40s cup competition, plus our O55s await news of their round 2 EH Tier 1 fixture in January.
Captain Anji
