Date	Sunday 17th November 2013
Match	Bury Rangers v Royston Town Youth Colts
Competition	Royston Crow Youth Football League U11 Division 2
Result	Won 0-6
Royston Scorers	Rhys 2, James B 2, Sam, Richard

County cup 3rd round and an away trip to Bury Rangers, Bury are top of Division 3 in the mid herts rural league having won all there league games quite easily so we were expecting a competitive game, it was a perfect morning for football but the pitch was small and the grass in places was long but it was the same for both sides.

 

The boys have had to listen to quite a bit of constructive criticism lately from the coaching team and there reaction has been positive at training and I have seen a real determination from everyone to put some of the things we feel they have not been doing right. Focus and concentration were key and we needed to keep the pitch as big as possible by the wide men staying wide as possible when we get the ball, also we wanted them to be positive and to work hard at all times on and off the ball.

 

We started quite well and the effort was there for all to see although some of the passing and our touch was not quite right, Bury were closing us down and not giving us any time on the ball and were also dangerous on the break. We created a great opportunity when Sam was put through but he shot wide. We broke the deadlock on fifteen minutes when Fred won the ball and passed to James R his ball over the top was controlled by Sam who this time made no mistake to give us the lead. We started to dominate but our decision making or final ball in the last third was letting us down. We brought AJ and Jack O on and it was AJ'S pass that Sam flicked on and Richard who had continued his run finished Cooley for our second. We then scored again when Rhys put there centre half under pressure and his clearance hit Rhys who reacted first and made no mistake. The half time whistle went and we had a deserved 3-0 lead.

 

We just needed to be more careful in the final third and make better decisions but it was an improvement on previous weeks. We also needed to improve our attacking options from throw ins the movement was good but the throw ins were not giving the player receiving the ball a lot to do. We needed to stay focused when defending to keep a clean sheet.

 

Number four came straight after the break when Brad found Sam and his Pass found Rhys who once again finished confidently. The passing and movement at times was much better and AJ and Richard were now dominating the middle of the park. We were playing with much more confidence and although we were making chances we did not convert them. We made some more changes and scored immediately when Fred's through ball found James B and he showed a good turn of foot to race clear and go round the keeper and slot home. Jack O then set up number six his pass found James B who again raced clear his shot was well saved from the keeper but the rebound hit James B and went in. We continued to pass the ball well but the last chance of the game feel to Bury but Robbie who had very little to do showed his concentration levels were good and he saved well with his legs. The ref blow up and we had progressed to the fourth round.

 

Bury never gave up and there game plan was to frustrate us and close us down which they did well in patches, I was overall pleased with today’s performance we all know we can still play better but the boys must take credit for some of the football which they played today and the effort they all put in. We also know that we have to continue to work hard at training and keep improving as a team, we have a massive test next Sunday when we face Goddy again and this time I know the boys will be looking to put in a much better performance than we did when we played them earlier on in the season.

 

Well done to all sixteen players today.