| Date | Sunday 10th October 2010 |
| Match | Pin Green v Royston Town Youth Colts |
| Competition | Royston Crow Youth Football League Div 2 |
| Result | Won 11-3 |
| Royston Scorers | Mick (6), Bruce (2), Tom T, Brad, Lewis |
| Man of Match | Mick (Superb display of tricks, control, strength, creativity and finishing) |
Team – Rory, Brad, Jamie C, Jamie P, Joe, Lewis, Callum, Tom F, Jack , Mick, Bruce, Tom T, Keiran.
We travelled to Pin Green in
Our pre-match talk was about starting the game well, keeping tight to the opposition players and getting the ball on the ground to play good football to feet. Sometimes I do wonder if anyone listens. The game started with the Royston midfield and defence looking extremely ragged, with no-one settling or taking control and with them letting the Pin Green boys get away from them. In attack Lewis was looking lively though and put in a couple of early good nippy runs down the left wing. On the other wing Jack sped down the line and found Bruce’s feet, who shot well for the keeper to make a good early save. Mick controlled well and passed to Jack who was waiting to crack a shot only for the ball to take an age to come down and then bounced away from him. Bruce held the ball up well and put a good pass through for Mick to run onto and slot home coolly to open the scoring 0-1. Some more good work from Lewis led to Royston’s second as he beat a player on the left and put in a dangerous cross for Mick to connect firmly for 0-2. The defence were still struggling a bit as the ball was allowed to bounce too many times and they allowed Rory’s goal to come under unnecessary pressure. A goal was awarded against us that didn’t look to have crossed the line for 1-2 and Pin Green’s good period of play brought them an equaliser with the defence being caught a bit square as they let a long ball over the top catch them out. 2-2. A couple of sharp words from the sidelines and they seemed to refocus on the job in hand. Jack took a rest following a series of speedy runs down the wing and Tommy T filled the right wing slot and Lewis came back onto the left. Some great tricks by Mick led to a good low cross from the left and Keiran, who was playing up front, was on hand to finish off cleanly 2-3. Tom T took a corner that was half blocked and came back to him, a swift feet pass to Mick gave him the time to turn and he lobbed the keeper brilliantly for 2-4. There was no stopping Mick in this mood and he seems to like these afternoon kick offs and he ran onto a Foxy pass to bury the ball giving the keeper no chance for 2-5. The classy Keiran fed Lewis on the left who put over another dangerous shot/cross this time for Bruce to finish off following a half save from the busy Pin Green goalie. The half finished at 2-6.
Despite the good score-line we weren’t at full speed yet and the patchy start from our defence had had us concerned for a brief spell. Towards the end of the first half the boys had started to gel and the shape of their play was much more pleasing. JP and JC had started to find their usual strong games and the pattern of play had changed to being more constructive via the midfield play of Callum and Foxy. The boys had remedied the early problems on their own and this was all good. We made no further changes at the start of the second half and sent them out again.
The second half started with Foxy really stepping up a gear and imposing himself on this match, as mentioned earlier this game has sort of bypassed midfield so far but the pattern of play had shifted and Foxy was now doing some good work and a strong drive forward and quality pass found Bruce who just dragged his shot wide. Another Foxy run and pass fed Tommy T whose first shot was blocked well by The PG keeper but Tom followed up well to score 2-7. We gave JP a rest dropping Callum back to centre back and Keiran back into midfield alongside Foxy putting Mick back on upfront. Mick got back into the game with some top-notch skills and fed Tom T who just shot wide. For a period of about five minutes Tommy T was rampant putting in some great runs up the right and keeping Pin Green under constant pressure. Some solid work by Brad at the back fed Tom and his superb run and cross found Mick who turned his marker and his shot hit the net for 2-8. Another Tom run and cross found Mick but this time his shot was saved. Mick got his sixth of the match with a good run and powerful shot for 2-9. Pin Green got one back forcing a corner that was delivered well and a great backwards glancing header looped over Rory into the goal for 3-9. More good pressure from Keiran and Foxy and we won a penalty which Brad came up from defence to take. Brad took three steps and powered the ball into the net confidently for 3-10. Keiran had a good accurate free kick saved. Keiran then found JP, who was back on playing upfront, who in turn passed to Bruce who completed the Royston scoring with a well placed low driven shot. 3-11.
This was an excellent second half and we congratulated the boys on this performance. Despite the slow and scrappy start to the game the boys had worked the problem and found the solutions. In these big goals we can usually hope to score a few but we have to be tight and alert from the start to keep our opponents from doing the same. Spectator’s man of the match went to the mesmerising Mick, but special mentions once again for Brad and Joe for doing their sometimes unglamorous jobs brilliantly. Keiran who continues to be a class act, Foxy for a full on top quality display, Tommy T for playing in four different positions without complaint and doing every one of these jobs well and Lewis for his really good first half performance. Top work everyone.
