|
Date |
Sunday 25th September 2011 |
|
Match |
Royston Town Youth v Mid Beds Tigers |
|
Competition |
Royston Crow Youth Football League U13 Division 2 |
|
Result |
Lost 2-4 |
|
Royston Scorers |
Charlie, Connor |
Well once again our small squad size was to be our undoing as we entertained a strong physical Tigers team, with only 11 players.
Straight from the off, the Tigers bared their teeth and got about us, very nearly opening the scoring within the first few minutes. Luckily our slow start didn’t last to long and we were soon in our stride, moving the ball quickly and trying to set the tempo, but the Tigers wouldn’t lay down. As the game ebbed and flowed it was the visitors who drew first blood.
To our credit this didn’t seem to change our approach with some neat football being played, soon it would be 1-1 when Charlie burst through to slot home for his 5th goal of the season.
With the midfield area being very congested and Tiger having 3 very tall strong players, we would have been wiser to feed the ball to the flanks more often, but neither side could gain any meaningful possession. At time it looked like a game of pinball with the ball bouncing around. However in game like this, sometimes a little bit of individual magic is needed, Connor S received the ball near the touch line and began to tease the tigers with his quick feet and close ball control, as he danced his way towards the edge of the box he unleashed a fierce shot that cannoned off the bar, the rebound fell kindly for us, we worked the ball back to Connor who again danced passed a defender and shot, this time the net rippled, 2-1.
The game was now very open, Tigers playing to their strengths, putting us under pressure with long high balls into dangerous areas & throw-ins Rory Delap would have been happy with, at every opportunity, we in turn trying to play our football on the ground, but it would be Tigers who would end the half on the up, as first one of the long throws caused a mix up in our defence, the visitors were quicker to react and the score was level,2-2.
We seemed shell-shocked, we lost the ball immediately from the restart and with a speculative effort from within their own half, broke lose in our penalty box which was tucked away by the pacey forward, 2-3.
We looked more comfortable after the break and continued to make good scoring chances, limiting our opponents to strike from distance that Ellis dealt with easily, Connor L eagerly winning the ball and forcing mistakes.
From set plays we looked dangerous, but luck was not with us as chance after chance went begging.
Then in the dying minutes and from a rare attacking play, the Tigers won a free kick mid-way into our half, there looked to be little danger but the shot was hit with venom and whistled into the net,4-2.
Conclusion
As I have said before, football is a team sport and with such a small squad to pick from we are going to struggle on occasion’s when people have other commitments, also with numbers being light we all have to put in 100% in every match, it is apparent from the sideline that this is not always the case, but hopefully as our numbers increase that will get better. On the plus side, we have all worked hard in training with our set plays and this was noticeable this weekend, maybe with a little slice of luck things could have been different & also the amount of chances we are creating is outstanding. Sooner or later it will all click into place and when it does, the whole league will sit up and take notice!
Trust in your ability, keep smiling and it will happen!!!
