| Date | Sunday 30th January 2011 |
| Match | Letchworth GCE Eagles Oranges v Royston Town Youth Colts |
| Competition | Royston Crow Youth Football League U11 Division 2 |
| Result | Won 0-7 |
| Royston Scorers | Mick 4, Lewis A 3 |
| Man of Match | Mick (Tricky, Fast, Creative & Dangerous) |
Team Rory, Joe, JC, JP, Brad, Callum, Matt, Mick, Tom, Lewis, Keiran
It had been over two months since our last league game due to the bad weather, Christmas break and a couple of cup matches and we were all keen to get the season back on track. We were down to eleven players today due to various reasons but the available boys were up for the game. The weather was cool and dry but the pitch was unfortunately more suited to mud wrestling, having obviously taken a battering from the poor weather and overuse and it didn’t take a sky pundit to see that today’s game wouldn’t be a spectacle of pure football.
We were given a friendly welcome and the boys warmed up with their boots and footballs ominously quickly covered in the copious mud. We asked the boys to accept the pitch condition and adjust accordingly. Passes and clearances would need more power and the middle trough of the pitch was not suited to over play and would need some grit rather than guile. We asked them to get the ball wide to the slightly better part of the pitch at every opportunity and to keep the work rate up.
The game in the cow field began and couldn’t have started any better for the team in white. A pass from Lewis found Keiran who slid it through to Mick who ran on and slotted it by the out-coming keeper for 0-1. Mick followed this up with another run on and shot into the goal only to find it correctly ruled offside. Callum and Matt were into their games now and were doing the job perfectly and during the whole match they did the tough and ugly break up play beautifully. Keiran was looking particularly balanced on this slippy pitch and was supporting Lewis and Mick in attack strongly. Mick scored our second picking up a good through ball and taking it on striking a fantastic effort high into the net giving the Orange’s goalie no chance 0-2. A fine run and shot by Keiran won a corner. Rory was called into play as the Orange’s put a good move together and he gathered the resulting shot well. JP and JC were backing up the midfield by staying tight and close to their opposition players but more important pushing on behind Callum and Matt and keeping the ball away from Rory’s goal. Lewis got in on the act by running onto another great through ball from midfield, beating the keeper and finishing confidently for 0-3. Mick completed his first half hat-trick with a strong run through and solid shot 0-4. Letchworth brought another good stop from Rory and the first half came to an end.
We could not understate the great first half performance we had just seen by the whole team. The fantastic full back play of Joe and Brad were not only holding off the Orange’s attacks but were supplying both wings and Tommy and Keiran were getting forward at every opportunity leaving JP, JC, Matt and Callum to slug it out in the quagmire. The finishing and work rate from Lewis and Mick upfront was absolutely colossal. We were conscious of the fact we had no subs and that the boys may tire in the second period but Andy, Nick and I knew that even if we had got Torres and Drogba sitting on the bench there was no way they were getting on for the boys already on the pitch today.
The second half started with Tommy T on the attack and his pass found Callum who just slipped before he could pull the trigger. Great work from the ever improving Joe found Keiran who went on a mazy run and his shot was well blocked for a corner. The resulting corner brought a well worked one-two routine from Mick and Keiran with Keiran dribbling on and crossing perfectly for Lewis to soar and nod a great goal for his second and the team’s fifth 0-5. A brilliant Brad pass found Mick who sped up the wing but his early shot went just wide. We swapped the goalies with Callum going between the posts and Rory coming into midfield and asked for even more effort from the boys. JP was now suitably daubed in mud war paint and his and JC’s strength and presence kept Callum from having to save any real efforts on goal. Rory was up for his on pitch challenge and created the next goal with a top pass up the right for Mick to collect, beat a couple of players with pace, shift feet, bring infield and score a lovely lobbed goal for 0-6. The boys work rate was tremendous and Tommy T tried hard to get on the score sheet with his persistence creating his own chance only to be foiled by a really good last ditch block tackle from the Orange’s defender. More superb work up the left wing starting with Joe to Keiran then onto Mick whose effort went just by the post – great football on any pitch. The scoring was completed with Lewis grabbing his own well earned hat-trick finishing a good move started by the awesome Matthew who, chest deep in mud, put a sublime pass up the wing to Mick who ran on, spotted Lewis and crossed a nice square ball for Lewis to bury for 0-7. Top stuff fellas.
The final whistle blew and today was a good day for all the team. Quality work rate and 100% effort from everyone on a tough pitch brought the rewards they deserved. Mick got the spectator’s man of the match award for a top class performance but the whole team were awesome today.
