Saturday 21st 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 5th 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 19th 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 26th 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 37th 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.
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