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On Wednesday 3 May St. Clare's F.C. played against Oxford English Centre. St. Clare's F.C. introduced five new players to the squad to cover the IB students who were preparing for their final exams.

The match began at a slow pace with Nick Hayes and Jedrzej Kasztelan testing the defence for weaknesses. Vincent Graw and Kilian Huber were strong in the centre, while Ben Tollington and Ilya Chakilidi made some good runs in the space that the wide sidelines offered. After a close free kick and a few good blocks from the Oxford English Centre Goalkeeper, St. Clare's F.C. finally managed to score through a brilliant strike from Kilian Huber outside the box. This was closely followed by a second well worked effort. Ilya Chakilidi placed a clever through ball to Jedrzej Kasztelan who slotted it passed the Keeper. With a satisfactory lead in place Kevin Hennessy made some changes to allow the newcomers to impress, allowing the IB06 players to rest. However it seemed this shuffle unsettled the team's coordination and unfortunately Oxford English Centre took advantage and managed to score 2 scrappy goals before half time to bring the game level.

After an uplifting half-time talk and a few more sensible substitutions, St. Clare's F.C. gathered their senses and attacked well. Some hard work from Oliver Sweeney and Ben Tollington down the left side brought many good chances. The Oxford English Centre's Goalkeeper played extremely well and made numerous good saves, but he couldn't keep out St. Clare's third goal from a corner. With ten minutes to go, a sloppy mistake by the St. Clare's defence allowed the Oxford English Centre to score a third goal past Ben Hanbury-Aggs. St. Clare's F.C. deserved to win this game due to their clear superior skill, and in the last frustrating 10 minutes their desperate efforts were rewarded when Nick Hayes' free kick deflected off the defensive wall and into the back of the net. The Oxford English Centre's Goalkeeper and Striker were presented with awards at the end. Overall St. Clare's F.C. deserved to win this game, but I think we need to work on our communication skills and start working better as a team.

Ben Tollington