| Date | Sunday 7th November 2010 |
| Match | Letchworth GCE Golds v Royston Town Youth Colts |
| Competition | Royston Crow Youth Football U11 League Cup |
| Result | Won 1-9 |
| Royston Scorers | Bruce (3), Keiran (2), Jamie P (2), Mick (2) |
| Man of Match | Brad (good strong tackling, interceptions and non stop effort) |
Team – Rory, Brad, Jamie C, Jamie P, Tom T, Callum, Matt, Tom F, Jack, Lewis, Mick, Bruce, Keiran.
We entered the Royston Crow U11 League Cup in Round 2 this season and we were looking forward to it. We travelled to Letchworth for an afternoon kick off on a bright, dry and crisp day.
We were without Joe today and would ask the willing and versatile Tom T to slot in at left back knowing he would do a great job. We wanted the boys to continue the good cup football that they played last week, keeping alert and tight at the back, strong and creative in midfield and lively and active in attack.
The pitch was quite big, very sticky and a bit bobbly and we asked all the boys to have a good look at the surface, think about the passing and control that would be needed and adapt their games accordingly.
This is cup football and all teams line up against each other, irrespective of what divisions they are playing their league football in, wanting to play well and make it through to the next round. The Royston boys were noisy, keen, excited and ready and Andy, Nick and I love it when they are in this mood.
The game started with some good individual runs from Jack and Bruce and the game settled into being a narrow tussle in the sticky middle of the pitch and we were encouraging the boys to get the ball wide. JP started how he finished last week and put a great through ball in to Mick but he couldn’t quite get to it before the keeper snaffled it. Jack created the first goal with a blast up the wing and a good cross over for Bruce to stick away 0-1. Keiran got in the game with a good bit of control and shot just over. Again Jack created the second goal with more good work up the right for Mick to finish with a cheeky back heel 0-2. Lewis showed good feet with a run and cross from the left to Matt who took one quick touch before unleashing a firm shot that went just wide. We won a penalty for a foul in the box and Keiran stepped up confidently, putting a good strike in the net for 0-3. Some good work from Mick fed Bruce for his well taken second of the match for 0-4 and Mick got on the end of a good interchange of passes between Bruce and Matt to finish well and the half finished at 0-5 to Royston.
The boys were playing well and almost battling against the pitch as much as the opposition. They wanted to play their usual quick pass football but couldn’t quite get it going. Matt, Callum and Foxy were getting stuck in and trying to get the ball forward quickly but it wasn’t quite happening. Bruce was doing some good work upfront in his calm, determined and effective way, but Mick was having a quiet game by his standards and getting frustrated with himself. Keiran, Lewis and Jack were all providing the creativity and all the back four were coping well with the Gold’s attempts to push forward. Rory was mainly redundant in goal but was calling and encouraging well.
Mick started the half with a good run and cross for Bruce to chase but he couldn’t quite get a shot off. Lewis pounced on a stray ball and put a good shot in but just wide. Jamie C pushed up for a corner and as the ball was cleared put in a good overhead kick that fell to Jack for a quick effort that smacked against the bar. The first ten minutes of the second half were a bit scrappy as the boys tried to settle following a few positional changes. Bruce completed a good hat-trick with a good run and finish 0-6 and Keiran got the goal of the game with a great mazy run that went on and on until he slotted the ball home – great stuff 0-7. I think this run mesmerised our own defence too because they switched off and the Gold’s put a good attack in and scored well for 1-7. We switched a lot of positions and almost had all our defence playing upfront and they didn’t disappoint with JP bagging two late goals, the first following some good work by Keiran 1-8 and the second top finish following an exquisite pass by Callum for a final score of 1-9.
This was once again an all round good team performance. The spectator’s man of the match award was given to the excellent Brad for his all round solid game but special mentions for the brilliant Bruce, the superb Keiran and for Tommy T who once again did a different job really well.
Back to the tough league action next week – keep it going.
