Report

March 18^th Mothers Day

Woking Under 9’s, The Yellows vs. Walton Casuals

We could not have asked for a nicer day to play, perhaps, the most important and certainly the most nerve-racking game of the season. It was a great pleasure to have all the mums with us on their special day, all no doubt spoiled with breakfast in bed with flowers and thoughts of what was going to happen about lunch somewhat displaced by the nerve racking 40 minutes that was to follow.

Now, to all of us on the side-line we’ve seen what can happen when confronted with such a small pitch so, whilst we have to remind ourselves that ‘this is only a game’, we could not help but stand there nervously as the ball made its way from one end to the other in a matter of seconds. Our normal display of passing and deliberation was stretched to its core from the start and it looked as though Andrew was going to have a very involved match, and what a match he had.

True to form however, Sam scored the first goal in the 12^th minute having taken the ball past two defenders and stuck it in the top left hand side of the net. The upper hand was gained and there it stayed.

The next great attempt was a pass from Freddy to find Sam but this time the shot was slightly right of target. In the 15th minute we were treated to another attack on Walton’s goal this time passed by Alberto through to Sam and saved by the goalie conceding a corner. Kasper took the corner and it looked good with Yellows in possession in front of the goal but it was not to be and a goal kick followed.

The 18^th minute saw Walton break and this time it looked very dangerous but Andrew performed brilliantly saving it head on and deflecting it to the right to Oliver who cleared it but into the path of a Walton attacker and luckily it went off. Goal kick.

In the last minute of the first half we almost took another goal. This was looking great.

Half time interviews

Simon,

“Well, I’ve never felt calmer! I think the boys are under enormous pressure from the opposition but are coping very well. We had one or two scares; we look very dangerous on the break. I think if we can maintain this in the second half and not be overwhelmed by the occasion it’s ours!”

Steve Roffey

“You can’t fault the boys, absolutely superb commitment. Andrew has been absolutely outstanding making three or four quality saves. Walton are  a very good side and we have to win the ball, not giving them time. Couple of decisions that went against us but 1-0 up, I’ll take that!”

2^nd Half: 12.25 kick off

We saw a great deal of pressure in the second half with the ball in our half uncomfortably too often. Ben displayed some great defending harrying the attacks again and again as did Oliver and Alberto. Andrew came into his own regularly making some great saves and belting the ball up to Sam quickly and accurately, creating break after break. In one particular break Sam collected the goal kick within 15m of Walton’s goal and ran straight through the defenders, shot and it just went over the top left of the goal.

Throughout this match Freddy showed the typical ‘ever ready’ composure ensuring that Sam was fed no end of opportunities. It would have been a different result had Freddy not been able to check so many advances and keep Walton’s chance of clean breaks to zero.

A nice display from Sam and Kasper at 12.32 saw them take the ball right down the left wing but beaten off by the defenders to win a corner. Sam gets a great break a minute later and takes it into the centre and shoots – this time the goalie made a tremendous save. Special mention to the left footed belter from Kasper from 15m out on the right wing, a shot that looked like it would sing into the top left hand side of the net but just missed by inches. We’re keeping the pressure on.

12.38 Sam makes yet another break past two defenders, one of whom manages to get it between his legs as he falls and holds onto it but Sam tackles him whilst he’s down, takes it and crosses again but the goalie saves it.

12.39 A super attempt from Freddy sees the goal shudder as it hits the top of the cross bar but luckily Sam takes the rebound and belts it in after a bit of a cuffufle in the goal mouth. 2-0. This has to be our match now, surely.

A dangerous break into our half then followed and it looked as though Walton would score but Andrew was there again and made a tremendous save. Andrew was certainly playing at his best today.

A third goal almost came in the last few minutes when a throw from Sam found Hamish’s right leg but unfortunately it shied to the right of the post – another nice try and great effort from Hamish. The whistle has gone and it’s all over.

12.47 full-time and the game, and league goes to Woking! Well deserved and a thoroughly nail biting finish to the season.

Interviews:

Coach John (smiling)

How do you feel about the game?

It’s was great fun, and that’s all I’m going to say

Coach Brian (also smiling)

“Great result, the boys did exactly what we wanted. You can’t exactly hold Sam back – two fantastic goals.”

What about Andrews’s performance?

“Super saves – one a one-handed save, one of the best I’ve ever seen and another sitting on the ball to stop it going over the line”

And the size of the pitch?

“Same as it was last time!”

Summary

We all know that the team deserved to win this match because their development and record has been exemplary throughout the season. We’ve seen some remarkable games with fantastic thought processes and displays of team work and we’ve seen some great wins as a result.

The team has only seen three defeats when they’ve played on pitches that are really too small to enable a game to flow properly and too small for skills and strategy to be crystallised. Today’s game again proves that the pitch was too small for the boys to play in their comfort zone but what was remarkable was their ability to overcome the negative thoughts that arose from the last match at Walton and dominate the game with enough opportunities on goal to have delivered another 3-4 goals. Andrew in particular today deserves recognition for his tremendous efforts in the face of a fast and furious game that kept him on his toes throughout. Freddy kept his composure and steadfastness throughout whilst Ben, Oliver and Alberto maintained pressure on each and every attack that came their way. Kasper and Hamish maintained pressure on the wings feeding the ball into Sam on several occasions whilst Sam put in his usual fantastic display that delivered victory and the step up to the Premier Division.

Roger & Out