Date	Sunday 10th February 2013
Match	Royston Town Youth v Baldock Town Youth
Competition	Royston Crow Youth Football League U15 Division 1
Result	Won 1-0
Royston Scorers	Rhys

It was a cold windy day at the Heath not ideal for football but the pitch had been rolled and looked good although it would cut up as the game went on.

We were up against Baldock Town in a reverse fixture having drawn 1-1 at their place when we produced our worst display of the season so there was an added incentive for the boys today. We had fifteen to choose from today Richard had recovered from his nasty knock last week but Eamon was still having problems with his back. We made three changes from last week’s starting line up just to freshen things up a bit but I reminded them all that the squad needs to be on their toes and with a big squad this would now happen most weeks so they had to take there chance when it came. I was sure last weeks heartbreak would not play on their minds and they all looked ready and up for it in the warm up.

We had to show good intent from the off and make sure we did not let them settle we had to mix up the short and long passes and be competitive from the first whistle.

We started really well and were on the front foot from the start playing some nice football although some of our decision making was letting us down in the final third. One thing which was obvious was that we were allowing them too much time on the ball and not closing them down quickly enough. Chances were being made but some very good goal keeping was keeping the scores level. On twenty five minutes Sam had the ball on the left he came inside before playing a fantastic cross field pass to Bradley who ran onto the ball before shooting wide that would have been a great way to opening the scoring. We kept up the pressure and won corner number four on the half hour mark.AJ’s delivery was perfect and so was Rhy’s movement as he lost his marker before hanging in the air and powerfully heading into the roof of the net to give us a deserved lead. We continued to press and from another corner Alasdair ended up on the floor and was forced off with a dead leg which meant more reshufferling and Matt filled in at centre back and he would once again have a strong game. The half came to an end with us leading 1-0 and it was the least we deserved for our dominance with Robbie in goal hardly touching the ball in that half.

We had to close them down quicker to often we allowed them out when we had them in a dangerous position because we did not close them down quickly, and our decision making all over the park had to improve but we also needed to start taking our chances as we know from the game over there 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline and they will still feel they have a chance. We seemed a little sluggish so we needed to up the tempo all round.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first half we created and missed some really good chances due to good goal keeping and a lack of confidence to take control of good situations and also not picking the right pass.Baldock never really threatened although there dangerous number ten started to cause us some problems but like the first half Robbie never had to make a worth while save. The final whistle went and we had to settle for just the one goal victory but it was an important victory all the same.

We got the boys together and it was obvious by there faces that they new this was not a game they would want to remember but I can never question their commitment it was as they say just a bad day at the office although we did keep another clean sheet and there were good performances from some of the boys. I have said this time and again you must never think you have cracked this game because it always has away of bring you back down to earth you have to work hard at all aspects of the game and never rest on your laurels. We look forward and not back and  I know one thing for sure that this group will be at training Thursday ready to work hard as they always do and make sure we get it right for next week.