Ross Juniors faced a tough opening game in the new Midland Junior Premier League season with opponents from Stroud who have just dropped down from a higher division. But the Juniors weren’t overawed by the opposition and played some fast fluid play in the first half with some excellent passing moves.

It took the visitors 30 minutes before they broke through and scored, but Ross immediately pulled a goal back. In an excellent move, Wilf took the ball out of defence, passing to Jordan who found Tommy to beat the goalie and score. Soon after Stroud scored again but once again Ross equalised quickly when Jacob’s shot rebounded and Joel blasted the ball into the net.

While honours were even at half-time, Stroud punished Ross in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Scoring virtually from the kick off, then soon added four more to make the score 6:2 to the visitors. It’s to the credit of the Ross boys that they withstood the onslaught and came back into the game. Goals from Owain, with a shot from the edge of the box, and then Max, with a drive into the bottom corner, brought Ross back into contention but with time running out the score stayed at 6:4 to Stroud.

Next week Ross Juniors travel to Solihull in search of their first win of the season.