Victory denied in injury time

Saturday 28^th March

vs Marina Sands Lions 2-2

Team: Ciarán; Tom, Sam, Josh, Adam; Mark, Joe D, Caleb (capt.), Cormac; Jacob, Joe H.

They trudged off the pitch as if they’d been defeated, having conceded an equaliser in time added on, but the boys can be proud of the way they played as they built on last week’s victory. A free kick on the right hand side of the box was just beyond Ciaran’s fingers to give the Tigers a draw in the final game of the Plate round-robin.

This was a match with little value other than bragging rights – and the opportunity to avenge an earlier defeat – as the teams were already destined to play each other in the Plate semi-final before kick off. With Ollie’s fractured arm likely to keep him out for a few weeks, it was the last eleven standing that faced the Tigers and a heavy cross wind.

The conditions resulted in a scrappy start, with the first moment of any real skill coming after 6 minutes as Cormac swung a ball over and around the Tigers’ defence only for the last man to nip in front of Joe H. Josh, Adam and Cormac had a busy first period as the conditions meant the boys spent most of the half attacking on the left.

Tom battled the ball clear in the 9^th minute but the boys were enjoying a slight advantage with the wind and it kept them on the front foot. Reward came in the 13^th minute as Joe D lifted the ball over the Tigers’ defence for Joe H to touch round the keeper and slide into an empty net.

Sam had been rock solid at the back but missed a header after 16 minutes only for the Tigers’ forward to shoot wide. Caleb sent a great ball down the left channel, which Jacob failed to capitalise on, but the second goal arrived after 20 minutes. Awarded a free kick on the left, Joe H swung it towards the far post and into the corner of the net, despite Sam trying to glance it home.

Pulled back for a generous offside decision moments earlier, Jacob killed Tom’s long goal kick stone dead and put a ball round the corner for Joe H only for a bobble as he shot to deny him a first half hat-trick after 25 minutes.

The second half was a mirror of the first, as the wind meant the Tigers created chances from their left. Sam and Tom were holding firm, with Tom rampaging down the right wing whenever he had the chance, and Mark seeing a lot more of the action in front of them. The conditions meant that the game too often by-passed the central midfield but it was indecision at the back that gifted the Tigers a route back into the game in the 44^th minute. Ciarán’s goal kick was flat but the defenders didn’t react as the Tigers’ midfielder picked up the ball – the keeper got his hands to the shot but it wasn’t enough and the ball dribbled over the line with the follow-up as slow as the reaction to his kick.

He soon made amends with a great one handed save low to his right as the Tigers pushed forward after 48 minutes. The boys found a tactic to relieve the pressure by Ciarán kicking cross-field to Joe H, who had the measure of the Tigers’ left back but too often found himself without any support to create a real chance. When they did open up the Tigers in the 57^th minute, they were again pulled back for a dubious offside decision.

They continued to pass the ball around when possible, with Mark Joe H and Caleb combining well to get behind the Tigers defence just before the hour mark but chances were few and far between for both sides until the Tigers free kick saw them level the scores at the death.

This was a good team performance – with no substitution options, they kept going to the very end and looked the more threatening of the two sides throughout the match. A consistent defensive performance at the back from Sam saw him named Man of the Match, with more of the same needed when the sides face each other again in a few weeks’ time.

Victory - at last!

Saturday 21^st March

vs Town Green Warriors  9-1

 Team: Ciarán; Ollie, Sam, Tom, Josh; Mark, Joe D, Caleb (capt.), Adam; Jacob, Joe H. Sub: Cormac.

It may have been the second day of Spring but there was still a bite in the air and, at last, one in the boys too as they finally took some of the passing work from training sessions out onto the pitch on a Saturday morning and soundly beat their hapless opponents.

It took only 20 seconds to open the scoring, as Joe H passed the ball infield for Jacob to lift it over the keeper and they doubled their lead two minutes later. Caleb won headers in midfield all game but this early one set up Joe H and his shot went through the keeper.

With the wind at their backs, and some advantage from the slope, they had chances galore as the Warriors reeled. They just managed to survive Caleb’s 5^th minute corner, only for Adam to have his goal bound shot blocked away, but had no answer a minute later as the captain’s corner found Jacob unmarked at the back post to tap in the third.

Confidence was oozing through the side now and Caleb took full advantage of Mark’s quick throw to send in a low cross which Joe D tapped in to see them four up after only 8 minutes. Joe H and Tom saw long range shots go just wide and Adam had another on target attempt blocked, from Jacob’s cross, before they further extended their lead in the 19^th minute. Ollie’s smart header was cleared off the line but Joe H was on hand to nod it back into the net.

After Jacob had outmuscled the defence to create a chance which he cheekily tried to chip over the keeper, the quality in the boys’ play was summed up by the sixth goal in the 26^th minute, as Joe H turned the left back inside out, cut back and sent in a low cross that Joe D whipped into the corner of the net.  They were not done for the half, though, as Mark gave Joe H a ball to run onto which he took beyond the last man, round the keeper and into the empty net to see the boys take an incredible seven goal lead into the break.

Ollie had given way to Cormac after 20 minutes but he returned for the second half, replacing Tom, as Ian rang the changes regularly throughout the second half. Ollie then started the 37^th minute move for goal number eight, sending Jacob into space. Forced wide by the keeper, he laid it back for Joe H to run onto a first time unstoppable shot that gave him his fourth goal of the game.

Mark had played his part in goals before the break and was creator again after 43 minutes, combining with Jacob as he became the second player to complete a hat-trick as he shot home between near post and keeper.

Incredibly, after all that, the tenth goal would not come. Some rhythm was lost by the regular changes but, after Sam had rose well to head a rare Warriors corner to safety, Adam’s cross was headed onto the crossbar by a defender and Joe D saw his shot sneak past the far post after Joe H’s pass sent him clear.

They nearly got caught out from their own free kick as Tom raced back to kick the ball off the forward’s toe after Cormac was left as the only defender but they could not survive Josh’s and Sam’s missed tackles that exposed Ciarán after 53 minutes to miss out on a clean sheet.

The Warriors went close five minutes later, with a free header at the back post, but the scrappy nature of the second half should not undermine the quality of the first, when they could easily have been in double figures before the break. Caleb put in a captain’s performance, dominant and constructive in the air in midfield but, for scoring four and setting up two others, the Man of the Match award went to Joe H.