OHAFC V's Crusaders

A fantastic first ten minutes saw Adrian Bibb score a great left-foot volley to put Old House 1 - 0 in front. Bibb soon after he had another chance, but didn't hit it as sweetly this time and couldn't keep it on target. This seemed to be a wake up call for Crusaders who leveled the score soon after with a daisy-cutter out of nowhere. Old House continued to push and Martin Butler scored after 25 minutes, but it was ruled offside. To add insult to injury, Crusaders then went straight up the other end of the pitch and scored themselves to put them 2 - 1 in front. From here, Crusaders dominated the play and had their fair share of scoring opportunities. Dan Fox had his chance on the end of a free-kick, but scuffed it over the bar. This is how the first half finished, with Old House seeming to run out of energy and ideas.

Old House came out of the blocks again after a rousing speech from manager Dave Smith. Within seconds, Old House were pushing and Fox hit a brilliant strike from the 18 yard line, which was only equalled by the fantastic save from Crusaders' keeper. Crusaders continued to thwart every effort from Old House, preventing them getting a decent shot, with some solid defending. They then pushed themselves further ahead with a quick break, catching Old House defence flat and extending their lead to 3 - 1. Crusaders continued to push, had a goal disallowed for offside, but them managed to kill the game off by scoring a fourth following some very flat-footed defending

A difficult game with so many new and unfamiliar players, but still some time to go until the season really starts. Looking forward to another difficukt friendly against the Premier divisions' Solihull Red Diamonds.