On 21st August Birmingham +63’s played their second post lockdown friendly against Rushall Rangers + 63’s at Rushall Olympic stadium.
Great ground with a superb pitch but due to COVID-19 restrictions we had to get changed on the terraces. Oh, the glamour of Walking Football!
Both teams agreed to play 9 a side on half the full-size pitch, 25 minutes each way in very windy conditions.
B’ ham started the game very confidently, making short accurate passes. Rushall were defending deeply and packing their midfield, so it was difficult to create many clear cut, on goal chances.
Soon the referee’s little black book soon started to fill up with players on both sides being penalised for running and too much contact.
Birmingham were playing well, moving the ball around confidence and were rewarded with a goal when Roy Williams ( Captain) picked up a pass on the left, rounded the defender and fired a low hard shot across the goal mouth leaving the Rushall keeper stranded at the near post. 1-0 to Bham.
Rushall had to come out in the second half to try and level it up. We gradually started to lose possession as our passes were too long. Rushall took advantage and scored with only their second shot of the game. 1-1
B ’ham tried to step up their attack to clinch a winning goal but Rushall reverted back to defending deeply and seemed to be happy with a draw. B ’ham were frustrated at creating very few goal scoring opportunities and not making best use of the free kicks awarded.
Roy Williams seemed to score a perfectly good second goal, but the referee disallowed it. Apparently Roy didn’t have one foot on the ground when he shot!
The game finished as a 1-1 draw, fair result.
Hopefully, we will get the chance to improve our game in the return match yet to be decided for September/ October.