Date	Sunday 2nd February 2014
Match	Fulbourn v Royston Town Youth Colts
Competition	Cambs & District Colts League U16A
Result	Won 1-3
Royston Scorers	Rhys 2, Jack O

We travelled to Fulbourn for a league game with 13 players we still had three out injured and on top of that two of the boys had been ill overnight and one was ill as we got there. The pitch was in excellent condition although it had a slope and the wind was blowing across the pitch which would make things tricky. The boys seemed a little flat in the warm up so we made sure we had a good chat before we went out. We spoke about playing football in the right areas and not trying to force things and to be patient, Ash then challenged then to score early to really set the tone of the game.

We kicked with the slope first half hoping to really push home that advantage. We started really well forcing two corners in the first five minutes but from the second corner the ball was cleared well into our half which caught us out and there forward raced clear but Robbie was quick off his line and made an excellent block to keep us level. On eight minutes we got the first goal Ash demanded when Sam played a great ball round the corner for Rhys to finish with a clip over the on rushing keeper. We continued to dominate and Rhys forced a first class save from there keeper with a point blank header as we kept pushing for more goals.Fulbourn were a threat with the long ball and on thirty minutes we were caught out again only for Freddie to stop there attack with a foul which saw him get booked. We continued pressing but when the half time whistle went we had to settle for a slender 1-0 lead.

We did not feel the slope would make to much difference to the way they played we just had to defended a little deeper and make sure we stayed switched on for that ball over the top and also make sure we did not let them have free shots from out side our box. We had to be more switched on and organised from our own corners as to not put ourselves under pressure. Something we had done in the first half.

On fifty minutes after a stop start game Jack O got the ball out on the left and delivered a cross which the keeper came to collect but then let slip through his arms and the ball went in for a two goal advantage. We always tell the boys that five minutes after you score is when you are most vulnerable and so it proved although we only have ourselves to blame when we continued to not clear our lines properly and when the ball finally feel to a Fulbourn player from just outside the box his shot left Robbie with no chance and Fulbourn were now back into the game. The constant flow of bad tackles continued the ref booked one of theirs and then the real flash point occurred when Rhys was almost chopped in half with not only a dangerous tackle but one that was made to deliberately hurt him, the ref on this occasion took out his red card. Rhys went off for treatment but came back on soon after. We did not really make the extra man count as to the nature of the game although we did wrap up the points with five minutes left when from a free kick on our left Jack O whipped the ball in and Rhys made a great adjustment to his feet before side footing a volley into the goal from ten yards a really great piece of skill. For me the game could not end soon enough and I was relieved no one got seriously injured although two of the boys were left with stud marks one to his knee and one to his back.

Special mention to Jack O someone who has not played as often as he would like but he impressed me with not only the way he looked after the ball but his work rate when tracking back.