It was a cold and frosty start to the morning, but the Rye Bay under eights were all excited and having fun warming up, preparing for their away match against Hastings Wanderers. Rye Bay had to reshuffle the team as Kevin Tucker, the team’s normal goalkeeper, was ill, so young Jamie Beard stepped up to the task. The game kicked off and the boys looked really good, passing rather than chasing the ball. Hastings is a very good team so the boys had to dig deep and defend. Jamie was having a great game in goal, making some brilliant saves, also Mitchell Bristow and Akshat Suthagaran were playing really well, blocking and clearing most of the play.
Rye Bay had a few good chances. Evan Whiting was playing some lovely passes to Oliver Macdonald and George Buss up front. Theo Cornell was going on some great runs with the ball and chipping in with some great tackles, too. Overall, it was the best performance from the Rye Bay boys I have seen. There were second-half appearances from Lloyd Archer and new player Rocky Fenton, who also played their hearts out. Technically, the team lost, but also won on so many different levels. It was a massive performance from them all and watching friends and family were very proud. The Man of the Match (sponsored by The Crown Inn) was Jamie Beard, who did a great job. A big well done to the rest of the team and get well soon to Kevin Tucker and Thomas James.
Match report from Rye Bay coach Ali MacDonald