| Team | CoB Men’s 2ndXI |
| Opponent | Barford Tigers 5 |
| Date | September 28, 2024 |
| Result | Draw |
| Score | 0 – 0 |
Top of the League Title contenders battled it out, in an entertaining hard-fought draw. Both teams finished just below the promotion spots last season with City of Birmingham slightly edging into fourth place. It looked like both teams had a few regulars missing and the game started slowly, each team protecting their goal.
The midfield of both teams were getting lots of play with probes into each opposing team’s defensive line. Gradually the home team began to gain more possession and string together better plays and good passing. The young midfield of the visitors found it hard to keep possession once they so brilliantly broke up Barford’s plays. There was great effort tackling and imposing pressure in closing down players, but unfortunately this didn’t result in clear counter attacks. Towards the end of the first half the home team was building up pressure attacking
CoB’s defensive trio, but they all stood firm and Jack only was called into save three clearance balls. Noah, Edan and Jamie all had brilliant games and it was a remarkable League debut for Jamie at left back tackling as if he was an expert veteran. Throughout the game both teams never got clear shots on target, but the home team slightly edged the percentages for goalkeeper touches with Jack making five saves in the whole game and unfortunately the Barford keeper had just one clearance kick. It didn’t mean the visitors didn’t give Barford a few scares in the second half. James was having a brilliant game breaking up play and setting up the wide men for forays into the final third. Isa had some brilliant runs at the back line but in the “D” the telling pass or killer shot was sadly missing.
The wise heads of the defence in Ian and Edan led by example and guided the team with solid effort and massive work rate, which fed through to the younger squad members who replied in kind. It was another defensive masterclass from Captain Edan, deciding to hold a back three on the 60 minutes mark when the visitors finally put the home team under ten minutes of solid pressure and unsettling the home team defenders, (who were frantically calling for support). Edan could have pushed more players forward to increase this pressure, but with hindsight, keeping a clean sheet was much more valuable with five minutes to go. The CoB team worked hard and as the season goes on confidence will grow and losing possession so easily will fade as a distant
memory.