| Team | CoB Men’s 1stXI |
| Opponent | Bournville & Kings Heath 3 |
| Date | October 19, 2024 |
| Result | Loss |
| Score | 0 – 1 |
Although still not up to full-strength, CoB were at least able to have one sub on the touchline as they sought to better last week’s close encounter against Bournville 2nds.
Both teams made a lively start looking to create attacking openings. Sohail went close with an early chance. The CoB midfield was working hard to set up some attacking plays. Skipper Zach worked hard to chivvy his troops. Junaid went close with another chance at the near post. The visitors too had settled into their game and tried hard to create their own chances, but generally the home defence of Jimbo, Frank and Noah was holding firm. There followed a period of play which saw CoB enjoying better possession and it seemed that it might well lead to some positive outcomes. Noor saw a good chance scrambled away by the visitors’ defence. Bournville began to create some pressure of their own and managed to grab the lead with a goal somewhat against the run of play. CoB still managed to create some late half chances but without any real threat on goal.
At half time the visitors had clung onto their lead, but with the home side a little unfortunate to still be behind. CoB started the second half confidently, still looking for chances. Sohail played a long ball out of defence which found its way to Noor but his effort on goal went just wide. A short corner to CoB gave Jimbo a chance to level the scores but his shot hit a post and bounced away.
Bournville entered a phase whereby they put a lot of pressure on the CoB defence but without giving Neal much trouble. Sohail limped off with an injury for a while and without him the home side began to find it find It difficult to create much fluency. Having said that there were some good positive runs forward from Kyle and Jordan particularly but they could not land the final blow. Even when Sohail returned the home side the home side seemed to have lost some of their earlier dominance and in the end were unable to prevent the visitors from claiming the three points.
So, a disappointing result with a somewhat disappointing performance, especially in the second half. With no game next week, the team will hope that at least some of their absentees will be able to return.
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