Old Boys overthrow Raiders

On Saturday Springs Old Boys’ premier soccer side played a league match against Benoni Raiders.

Last week Springs Old Boys beat Luso Africa 2-1 and wanted to extend their winning streak and keep top position on the log.

In the first half, both teams were evenly matched, passing through balls when necessary, and defending when needed.

Both teams toyed with each other, trying to discover and exploit each other’s weaknesses.

But despite various shots at the goal from both sides, neither seemed to find the back of the net.

The teams also tried to make use of their fouled opportunities and corner kicks to break the deadlock, but by the end of the first half the score was still 0-0.

The second half saw both sides rethinking their game strategy, but still sticking to consistent passing and marking of both sides.

Old Boys kept marking and tackling for the ball edging them forward into the opponent’s half while the Raider defenders seemed to shy away from the bulky Old Boys attack strategy.

Mid-way into the second half, the constant attack from Old Boys proved too much for the Raiders’ defence. A foul was committed by one of the Raiders in the penalty box of their own half.

With a penalty up for grabs, Old Boys’ David Roach executed the penalty with classy precision into the back of the right-hand corner of the Raiders’ goal posts.

Old Boys gained new energy with this goal as their attack increased, allowing Dean Hayden to score the second goal.

There was still 30 minutes left in the game when a Raiders player broke away from a tight Old Boys mid-field, heading to the goal.

Old Boys’ goalkeeper kept up a good defence, when the referee blew his whistle for a foul, straight after the ball caught the side netting of his net.

Raiders celebrated the goal while Old Boys were up in arms over the foul and the fact that the referee blew the whistle to pause the game.

In a strange twist of events the referee allowed a penalty to Raiders.

The penalty was taken with glee and the Raiders edged closer to minimise the gap in goals.

With 10 minutes left on the clock, Old Boys did not let the referee’s decision to get to them as they went on the attack.

They kept up a consistent passing to keep possession in the Raiders’ half of the field.

Old Boys substitute of Brad Palmer for Alex Praxis, proved to be fruitful.

Alex kept the passing with ease, after a one, two pass, letting Dean score for the second time in the match, pushing up their score tally to 3-1.

The match ended with Old Boys keeping their defence, obtaining another win, and still top of the premiere log standings.

The honours of Man of the Match went to Dean.