Didsbury Down Bees In Ding-Dong Battle

This Saturday the Bees took to the field against Didsbury Men's 5ths. The squad was still suffering with the effects of a particular nasty series of colds, bugs and chest infections that had meant numbers at training had been noticeably low over the last few weeks, but they rallied themselves and took to the field.

The first half saw the Bees enjoy the majority of the possession, clashing against a very strong Didsbury defence. Despite the time spent in the opposition D and the number of shots made, the Bees offensive unit could not find the backboard or net. Not only this, but the Didsbury keeper was also enjoying an excellent game. This kept the score sheet clear well into the first half.
After a furious goal-mouth melee, Richard Greenhough managed to finally hammer a shot home past the Didsbury keeper and allowed the Bees to claim first blood.

Didsbury counter attacked strongly, with Keeper Pete Lynch-Mathew facing down several one on ones and shots on goal. But a short corner saw Didsbury’s strike deflect off Thomas Ainsley's stick and into the goal before the Bees keeper or defender Ashley Critten could do anything about it.

The Bees rallied and pushed back into Didbsury's D, and found success when Matt Bally pulled it back to Simon Lamb who shot, but the ball was ably blocked by the West Didsbury keeper. But Mark Ives was on hand when the ball looped up and he managed collect and scoop the ball into the net from mid-air, claiming the Bees second goal of the game.

Disaster was to strike when Simon Lamb was given a yellow card following a rather physical tackle against an attacking Didsbury player. With one man down, the Bees did their best but it was not enough to prevent the visitors from claiming another goal before the half time whistle blew.

With Simon Lamb returned to the field for the second half, the Bees pushed on into Didsbury’s half. But again, the goals were proving frustratingly elusive. Again and again the attack would falter after a save from the Didsbury keeper, or interception from their defence. The Bees keeper found himself facing more and more one on one attacks, but was able to deny any from bearing fruit with some well executed tackles and deflections. Unfortunately Didsbury managed to score off another short corner, the ball sent straight towards Edward John Holmes' post before being defected towards Sean Stewarts and into the back of the net. In this league, short corner defence would appear to make all the difference.

When the final whistle blew, Didsbury emerged as the victors with three goals to the Bees two. Special mention goes to Thomas Ainsley for playing well out of position and for showing a huge level of commitment. Simon Lamb also showed a great deal of versatility as over the course of the game he played every position at the back and in midfield. Man of the Match was awarded again to Scott Forster for some incredibly able and consistent work throughout the game.