West Bridgford Trojans (1) versus Edwalton Cavaliers (1)

 West Bridgford Trojans (1) versus Edwalton Cavaliers (5)

This week was a trial for the players, the coaches and the parents. We were playing 2 consecutive games on the same day against West Bridgford Trojans [WBT] managed by Chas Jandu who used to be part of the set up with the U6’s last season - firstly a ‘B’ team game and then an ‘A' team game. Given overall availability of players we ended up using several players in both games but most boys got 40 mins of football on the same day for the first time.

The B team match started off well with the team captained on the day by Harvey playing in their positions. However WBT got a goal from virtually their first attack. Before the goal we had several chances to score with good support play from Ben, Joshua and Jack in midfield. After we went a goal down the match was fairly evenly balanced in midfield but we were creating most of the chances. Harvey nearly scored on a couple of occasions but we had to get the ball past Ishy in goal for WBT who was a useful player when he was in our team last year and certainly had a big kick when clearing his area – thank goodness for half time team talks! The reason WBT did not have many chances to have a shot at Alfie in goal in the first half was because Jim and Jacob were excellent in their defensive roles.

After the team talk to readjust our positions for when their goalie was clearing the ball we settled back into the same pattern as the first half – lots of hard work in midfield and more of the chances up front. We changed the team slightly with Jacob and Ben giving way to Sam I and Oliver L. Sam I and Jim carried on the great defensive work from the first half with Jim clearing the goal line and preventing one if not two goals. Up front Oliver L caught everyone by surprise with a long range shot that unfortunately rebounded off the post but he got his reward a bit later when he ran onto a through ball and beat Ishy in goal. The match seemed more evenly balanced now and there were chances at both ends. Some of the players tired though that is understandable given it was their first full match. Everyone was hoping the ref would blow for full time whilst it was a draw which seemed a fair result and obligingly he did. Overall a good result with some very good performances.

After a 10 minute break we started the A team match with John as captain for the day. The game took a little while to get going with some strong tackling in midfield and quite a bit of congestion in this part of the pitch. Gradually as things settled down there were a few chances being created. After a period of pressure resulting in several corners on the right hand side taken by John, Harry pulled away from the WBT defence and turned the ball into the net to put us one up. Confidence grew with the one goal cushion but WBT managed to put us under pressure on several occasions, Eduardo in goal dealt with these and cleared the ball well. Sam H and Sam D had some work to do in defence but were not put under a lot of pressure. John in midfield tried hard to work the ball into good positions but it was a busy area of the pitch and he and Oliver W and Harry in midfield found it difficult to get the ball up to Sam I.

At half time we made a few changes with Sam I, Sam D and Eduardo giving way to Oliver L, Ben and Jacob. Oliver W took over in goal and Jacob was in defence where he carried on as he finished the B tam match – he even found time to get forward and have a shot on goal. I am not sure if WBT were going through a tired phase but our midfield of Oliver L, John and Ben managed to get the ball through to Harry playing up front to finish another chance and take us to 2-0. After some more pressure Oliver L took a shorter corner and Harry crossed the ball over the goal for Ben to finish it off. We followed this with a great move. Jacob brought the ball out of defence after making a tackle, passed to John who made space for himself to have a shot on goal that was just about saved until Oliver tucked the ball in near the post. After this WBT created a few chances one of which was well stopped on the line by Ben who went on to clear the ball. WBT were tiring and so were we but we had enough energy left for one more goal. A through ball from Oliver L sent Harry heading towards their goal. He managed to keep ahead of the defence to slot the ball past their goalie to make it 5-0. WBT scored a consolation goal late in the game when there was a bit of confusion in our penalty area to finish the game at 5-1 just as the weather had started to deteriorate. A great result with some good performances as with the first match.

So our first attempt at A and B teams saw some excellent performances in both matches, most boys got 40 minutes of football and overall we won 6-2 – not a bad way to start the weekend off – pity the weather let us down in the last 10 minutes!

[Edwalton Football Club] [Under 6] [Under 7] [Match Report] [Under 8] [Under 9] [Under 10] [Under 11] [Under 12] [Administration] [Senior] [Sponsors Page] [Merchandise] [Fund Raising]