On Saturday, we welcomed an OG side to play the football first team in a warmup match, which was competitive and entertaining from start to finish.

As the game started, the first team took the lead with an excellent goal from Tamim R, but the OGs were far from easy opposition and with several Year 11 players eager to impress, they came back into it when Spike C scored after good work from Ezra P on the wing.

The OGs then took a surprise lead, with Ezra turning from provider to goal scorer, although a strong passing move led to the second with Tamim curling in an excellent equaliser. Enjoying leading the line, another controlled finish from Tamim completed his hat trick and meant the score at half time was 3-2.

The second half saw a change in formation for the first team, and great work from James S led to him scoring on his debut, before Stevie C rocked the goal with a powerful finish for a 5-2 lead. The OGs continued to battle and the excellent Amir E-M, Toby C, Ezra P, Jack M and Toby M added quality and energy to their team. They refused to give up and this was rewarded when Ezra scored his second goal for the OGs, with a powerful rising shot to bring it back to 5-3.

After this, the first team stepped up a gear and Connor M scored a superb individual goal, before Will P chipped in with two goals himself to put the match beyond any doubt. Jude Philpott ended the scoring for the OGs, meaning the game finished 8-4 to the first team. This was a good test for our first fixture and the atmosphere between the sides was excellent. The A and B team now prepare for a tough block fixture against Felsted next Saturday.

Many thanks to OGs Milan Herathge, Spike Cook, Jude Philpott, Felix Wilson, Freddie Betts, Freddie Bowden and Bruno Brownjohn for returning to the school to play this match and help prepare our first team for the season ahead.