Carillon 1st XI maintain perfect start to season

LOUGHBOROUGH CARILLON 1ST XI 3 BELPER 5TH XI 0

CARILLON continued their winning run with a 3-0 win in a very competitive game against Belper 5s. Belper arrived with an experienced side while Carillon were relying on youth with a number of senior players missing this week.

The game started at pace with both sides moving the ball comfortably around the pitch and probing for attacking opportunities. In truth it was Belper who found those first and made sure that the Carillon defence remained in fine form.

Belper could and perhaps should have taken the lead from a short corner but were thwarted by a fine double save from first team debutant Euan Christie in goal. Shortly after Carillon took the lead through Ruaidhri Maguire who showed composure to round the goal keeper and roll the ball into an empty net after a sublime pass from Alex Aldred.

The second half followed a similar pattern with both teams matching each other around the pitch although it was Carillon who caused more problems for their opposition in the final quarter although Christie again had to be alert from a short corner.

One of the attempts came from man of the match Tom Ward found himself in an unfamiliar forward position and narrowly missed the far post when seeking to extend the lead. Carillon kept on pressing and the calming second goal was finally delivered through Jack Connabeer with a back-post tap-in. This allowed the team to relax and they picked off their tiring opponents with a third goal from Alex Relf. The young Carillon side can feel very proud of their efforts keeping the 100% record and collecting another clean sheet. Credit must also go to Belper who made them work hard for the win and played an excellent brand of hockey.

Carillon 2nd XI had a more comfortable afternoon as they recorded an 8-0 win away to Coventry NW 3rd XI. It was Carillon’s second 8-0 win in as many weeks as they continued their march up the table. Kyle Grobler led the way with four goals, two more coming from the impressive debutant Benedict Foote with Jez Clarke and Alex Carter grabbing one each to round off the scoring.

Carillon 3rd XI did not have as much luck as they came up against table toppers Nottingham Trent University 3rd XI and lost 16-0. The effort by the team including juniors and senior players could not be faulted and it was a credit to them that Notts were forced to play some quality hockey in the second half to score their goals.