Date	Sunday 16th February 2014
Match	Witchford Colts v Royston Town Youth
Competition	Cambridge & District Colts League U16A
Result	Won 1-3
Royston Scorers	Sam, Charles, Eamon

Witchford had to swap this fixture to a 3G pitch due to there’s being waterlogged and I must admit my first thought was how bad we had played on a 3G last year at Baldock but I did not need to worry this surface was first class and with very little wind there could be no excuses today.

We spoke about keeping the ball on the ground and with a big pitch making sure we made full use of it, also the full backs needed to join in but we also needed to keep our shape it was important we stayed patient because although Witchford were bottom they do not concede many goals.

Not the best of starts we conceded a corner after 2 minutes then after having two attempts to clear the ball a Witchford player headed in from six yards. We now needed a reaction and not to panic as we still had the majority of time to put it right. To be fair the boys continued to pass the ball well and we created some good situations but failed to take them, Matt in particular was finding lots of space from his full back position and was playing as well as I have seen. Charlie hit the bar and as the game went on it became an attack v defence game and although we kept missing chances the Witchford players were stubborn in defence, Rhys had a great opportunity to put us level at the break but he shot just wide and that’s when you start to think will it be one of those days. The half time whistle went with us still behind to that early goal.

There were no raised voices at half time because we had played well we just needed to shorten it up in midfield and use the easier option and then when we got it out wide we needed to deliver quality crosses and then when we created chances we needed to be clinical in front of goal, the next goal really would be vital and Ash as he as often done this season demanded we score in the first ten minutes.

Straight from the kick off we were on the attack and it really did seem like it would only be a matter of time and that’s what happened a good move down our right started by Matt was then played to Charlie out wide his cross was meet by Rhys and finished off six yards out by Sam, we now had the bit between our teeth and it was constant pressure and ten minutes latter we were awarded a penalty for a foul in the area, Rhys stepped up but his shot was well saved by there keeper, this did not affect the way we played and we kept knocking on the door and with twenty minutes left we got our reward when after good build up play AJ passed to Richard who found Charlie with a delightful pass and he lifted the ball over the keeper to give us a deserved lead. We did not settle for this and continued to press for another we were now playing as well as I have seen for a while and it was no surprise we scored again with five minutes left and this goal was well worth the wait, Richard and AJ who had played the short corner on at least three other occasions did so again and when Richard rolled the ball across the penalty area Eamon hit an absolute worldly from 20 yards right in to the top corner to leave the keeper with no chance and this strike put the game well out of reach of Witchford and give us the margin of victory we deserved for not only a good first half performance but an excellent second period, the ref finally blow his whistle and we had come through a different kind of examination with a 3-1 victory.

I told the boys how pleased I was with that performance they had to show a different side today where patients and belief were the key, winning football matches in this league does not come cheaply and Witchford never gave up and full credit to them that early goal really gave them something to fight for so today was a real test but the good thing for me was that  everyone contributed today and with some of the injured players on there way back we now need to win as many of our final six fixtures to finish in a top three place.

Special mention today to Fred and Bradley who both played out of position but did so for the team and both played really well and finally Matt who I thought was our best player today he won most if not all his 50/50 challenges got forward intelligently and never gave the ball away his best performance of the season so far.

The hard work continues see you all at training Monday.