After a disappointing 11-4 loss to the UOG Men’s 3s, 5s club captain Josh Apostolidis spoke on their upcoming cup game against Cardiff Medics.
“It’s a do or don’t kind of moment so the mentality is just win. It was a close game against Swansea, and as much as the score was 11-4 (today) it was a tight game.
“Hopefully we can take a bit of the Swansea game, a bit of this game and show that we can beat Cardiff Medics in next weeks game.”
Although it was a rampant display from UOG 3s, the 5s managed to score their first four goals of the season, something that Apostolidis was proud of.
“The whole club thought that we wouldn’t score a goal, I think we did shock the other team and when we scored goals it was a big confidence boost.
“Two of them were from set-pieces which is a big confidence boost, because we do struggle with them (set-pieces) so hopefully we can implement that next week.”
After a dominant first-half which saw the 3s take a 7-2 lead, Apostolidis had the job of motivating his team before the second half.
“I think you just have to look at the positives, there were some negatives, but it’s about tiding up on those individual mistakes, being a little more sharper in training
“Knowing we can score goals, we are a threat up front, we are good at playing the ball, and doing simple stuff on the ball, so we look at the positives and implement that on the next game.”
Match Summary
The 3s started the game on the front foot and their early pressure paid off as they scored a quick counter in the seventh minute. Their pressure continued, which resulted in their second goal of the game in the 23rd minute after a defensive blunder from 5s goalkeeper Dan Inns.
The 5s got back in it however after Nick Horsman finished from close range from a corner. The 3s however scored their third goal of the game two minutes after.
5s left-back, Harry Ellard, gave away a penalty for a handball in the box which was tucked away by the 3s captain to give them a three goal advantage. Before half-time, the 5s managed to get another back through Mark Hallet Andrews however, the 3s scored two goals in a 3 minute spell to take the half-time lead to seven.
Following the second-half whistle, the 3s scored their eighth goal of the game. The game seemed to slow down after a turbulent first half however in the 62nd minute, the 3s scored their ninth goal.
The 5s did fight back however with a goal in the 69th minute from another set-piece to make it 9-3, which was followed up by another goal in the 77th minute from Ozzy Douglas who robbed the goalkeeper of possession to score.
The 3s came back into it however with two late goals in the 85th and 90th minute to secure an 11-4 win over their UOG counterparts.
