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Bo r l a s i a n 2 0 1 3
Sport
1
st
XI Football Report
I’ve played for the Borlase football team every year since
year 7 and I must say that this year’s team is undoubtedly
the strongest collectively that I’ve played with. I think
this has been demonstrated by the success that we’ve
experienced this season in reaching the final of the South
Bucks’ sixth form cup.
It is fair to say that our first game against Bearwood was
well worth the wait. Despite being 2-0 down in the first 10
minutes, we managed to overcome early season nerves to
seal a convincing 7-2 win thanks largely to a superb Charlie
Bull hat-trick on his first senior appearance for the Borlase
first team. Ed Croft (aka Croftinhio) also made his long-
awaited debut on his 18th birthday after managing to slip
completely under the radar last season. The first of the
goals that initiated the comeback came from an unlikely
source in the form of vice captain and speed-merchant
Tom Armstrong, scoring an audacious back heel from a
corner. His lightning quick acceleration, rivalling that of
Will Cook’s, restricted Bearwood to a limited number of
chances throughout the duration of the match. However,
the quickest that I’ve seen him run this season was when
sprinting over to an opposition player to help to relieve his
cramp, without being asked and while the game was still
going on. It was an encouraging start that gave us a solid
platform to build on in the following games.
The highlight of the season was unquestionably the
dramatic penalty shoot-out win in the semi final of the cup
against Chesham Grammar. We conceded a
goal midway through the first half due to
some poor defending from a corner but
we were unfortunate to go into the half-
time interval behind as we dominated
possession in midfield and created a series
of good chances to score. It could have been
a different story if star forward Alex Harvey
(aka Dirk Kuyt) had brought his shooting
boots that would have rewarded him with
at least one goal that his build-up play
and performance deserved. To further our
misery, we also lost influential midfielder
Oli Tiliouine to an inconspicuous injury just
before the break which later turned out
to be a fractured hip. No doubt our social
captain“Sheen Charlie Bazz”will try and fine
him for fracturing his hip as well as for being
diabetic. The second half was a similar story;
Borlase playing the better football but being
unable to find the net. That all changed
however when Matt Peacock, who had been
begging to be put upfront all game, got his chance and
delivered. He was on the end of a ball over the top and
dispatched a cool finish past the onrushing keeper in the
last few minutes to level the score and force a penalty
shoot-out decider. This helped to separate the men from
the boys in the team and presented an opportunity for
Michael Twelftree to make himself a hero between the
sticks. He made two top-drawer saves to send us into the
final and his performance in goal was indicative of his
season, making a number of crucial saves to keep us in
games. This is why he has been voted as our players’ player
of the season.
Overall, it’s been a productive season and I want to
congratulate the boys on all their hard work that they’ve
put in and wish the year 12’s all the best for next season.
But most of all, I would like to thank Mr Robertson for all of
his effort and his time that he’s given up to help us.
George Prentice Y13
