3s battle hard against a strong Bury side

The second friendly of the season saw another youthful turnout for the 3s. Following on from the previous week's debuts, it was the turn of Ryan Oxby (The Ox Jr) to have his first Mens run out. A slightly older Shep also returned for his first appearance of the season, with Magic Mike, Ponch and Harry missing from the previous weeks performance.
With a view to upcoming league games the team set up with a slightly different formation to try attacking down the flanks. The plan fell into disarray in the first five minutes when Iceburg pulled his quad and subbed off never to be seen again, leaving Shep in the unfamiliar wide position.
The game settled and The Ox Jr was soon in the thick of the action in the left half position. Settling straight into the side, he was playing triangles with Chuckle#2 and Mad Max making good progress down the left flank. It was apparent though that Bury had strong players in the middle of the park and it was from this area that Bury took the lead. Their player received the ball at the top of the D with back to goal before shielding the ball onto his reverse stick and firing into the bottom corner.
Chap continued to battle and there was plenty of positive play, Chuckle#2 especially competing well in the centre of the park. It was disappointing therefore when Bury increased there lead with an almost identical move that conceded the first, Hutch allowing the Bury midfielder to get around him on the reverse before he fired into the net.
The team still stuck with task. In the wide positions the younger players were playing some good patient hockey with Tom 'still needs a nickname' Walker now in the thick of the action. Together with Tomahawk Bandit, Mad Max and Chuckle#2 they did make some advances down the left and into the Bury D, but the experienced Bury defenders were able to keep these out before a clear chance could be made.
From one of these attacks Chap were caught on the break as Bury counter attacked down a huge space on their right wing. The resulting cross being tucked away by the advancing forward.
No more goals before half-time and Chap had the chance to regroup. Recognising Bury's ability in the middle of the park Hutch made another formation change and brought Shep into his more familiar central role to beef up the midfield. Defensively the team looked more secure in the second half . Out on the right Homer had the Bury forward (who looked remarkably like Ponch) in his pocket. Boss Hogg and Bigfoot were also making some timely tackles at the back. In goal Gandalf was starting to dominate his D and made some excellent saves from the Bury forwards. It was a little unfortunate when Bury scored again, Boss Hogg unhappy with a lifted ball as the Bury forward advanced into the D before putting the ball in the net.
Chap were then to have a period of offensive play. Corporal Jones was being a nuisance in midfield, winning the ball back and launching our attacks down the right. The best of these saw Tomahawk Bandit attack down the channel to the back line, but his ball across couldn't be reached by the advancing Walker.
Chap continued to work hard right until the final whistle but neither side were able to add to the scoreline . At the final whistle, though the result was not desirable, the strength of the opposition was recognised and plenty of positives were discussed to take forward to the upcoming league games.