Date	Sunday 23rd January 2011
Match	Biggleswade United v Royston Town Youth Colts
Competition	Royston Crow Youth Football League Cup
Result	Won 1-4
Royston Scorers	Mick 2, Lewis A, Matthew
Man of Match	Tom T (Hardworking, persistent, determined)

 

Team – Rory, Joe, JC, JP, Brad, Callum, Matt, Mick, Tom, Foxy ,  Lewis, Keiran.

 

We travelled to Biggleswade for the second time this season to play in round 3 of the League Cup. The weather was grey, cool and dry and the pitch was in really good nick considering recent weather and it was a good day for football.

 

We asked the boys to start the season again – after such a long lay off and a tough County Cup match we needed the boys to get back to playing regularly, playing good football and back to enjoying themselves again.

 

We were missing two attack minded players in Jack and Bruce and a couple of the boys were coming back from various knocks and strains, combined with lack of game play, so we were unsure as to how the boys would do today. JC would start as sub as he was coming back from an injury but we knew he would get involved when called upon.

 

The game started with some very narrow and patchy play with the ball flying around a bit with neither team stringing more than two passes together. The midfield of Matt and Keiran were doing the lion’s share of work in these early stages and were trying hard to set up the wider play and feed the front pairing of Mick and Lewis.

 

The boys kept the pressure in midfield high and forced two corners with the first one being scrambled away and the second one being met with a good glancing header from Callum that went just wide. The boys, despite their tentative start, were beginning to settle and we put JC on at the back and pushed Callum up into midfield and this also seemed to solidify the team. Keiran was doing good work and the strong full back play of Brad and Joe were keeping the more dangerous Biggleswade wide players in check.

 

The breakthrough came following a foul wide right which Mick went over to take. He put over a good ball into the danger area and the first Royston effort on goal was half cleared and Matt pounced to put in an accurate shot low into the corner of the net. A fantastic run and cross on the left wing by Tom T found Lewis in the middle who connected first time but his strong powerful shot went just over the bar. The half finished at 0-1.

 

We asked the boys to keep the effort going with the better football starting to happen. We urged them to be tighter in their marking and more decisive and firm in their clearances. Work rate was good and they were starting to get their confidence back and it was great to see.

 

The second half started with Biggleswade pushing on a bit and Rory was called into action to make a few good runs out of his goal and some strong solid catches. The defence stood firm and we started to build some attacks again. The second goal came from a Biggleswade half clearance being brilliantly nodded back into the box by JC and Mick reacted quickest heading the bouncing and loose ball by the keeper for 0-2. The boys now had their tails up and were playing good stuff going forward. Mick got viciously hacked by the last man when clear through (red card in some games) but the resulting free-kick brought no shot on goal. Mick got his own vengeance by putting in a great run up the left and delivering a lovely looping cross that the lively Lewis got on the end of sharply slotting in a well taken goal for 0-3.

 

Biggleswade again stepped up their play and put some pressure on the Royston defence and goal. The back boys dealt strongly with most attacks and Rory stood tall when needed. One Biggleswade break caught us a bit flat footed, with a long ball falling into the no mans land between defence and keeper and their striker ran on well and pulled one back for 1-3. With time ticking down in this well contested cup tie, Mick put the game to bed running cross field strongly and powering a shot into the net to make the final score 1-4.

 

We were pleased with this display and result. We never quite hit top gear but took our chances well and it was really good to see. Tommy T got the spectators’ man of the match for his hard work, great attitude and versatility and special mentions for Keiran, Joey, Matt and JC, but overall it was a very good TEAM performance – well done everyone. Back to the league campaign next week.