U12 Blues suffer narrow defeat

Posted in U12 Blue News ... November 30th, 2009

Back to the league on Saturday and we played Woodley Hammers Black. An entertaining end-to-end game played in good spirits which Woodley Hammers Black just shaded 2-1 by taking their clear cut chances and we didn’t. The story of the game…..

In the first half we started really well and put them under pressure right from the kick-off. Our first corner came after 4 minutes, unfortunately James M curled it out for a goal-kick (he’s blamed the ball for that one!). Afetr 12 minutes we forced another corner which ended with Louis shooting wide from edge of box. A minute later and James H ran onto to a ball over the top but was fouled on the right hand side of the area, outside of the box. From the resulting free kick Luke had a shot that again went just wide.  From our next attack James M had a shot from edge of box that lacked some power to trouble their keeper, who gathered it up. Our best move came in the 17th minute. A good pass from James M to Luke, who hit a great cross to the near post, which A.D managed to get to just before keeper but poked it wide of the post. It took 22 minutes before they troubled our defence, but a cross from a free-kick on the left was easily cleared by us. In the 26th minute we got the goal our possession warranted. A throw-in from AK was touched back to him by JM, and then AK crossed into box, the ball dropping for Liam to scoop up and over the top of their keeper into the corner. A great finish from Liam. However, we switched off straight away and they nearly replied immediately but JC produced a great save. The last chance of the half fell to Luke, who shot from wide on the right but a defender deflected it away for a corner. With Jack W missing we struggled with our corners and could not put any pressure on their defence. A good half, with defence well marshalled by Jacko and Ewan, and some industrious play from Louis and Luke in midfield. In the second half we started to lose possession too easily and they started to attack us in numbers, winning the 50-50 balls in midfield. The first 10 minutes were dominated by midfield possession. In the 11th minute their best player (No 15) hit a brilliant left foot shot that hit the top of the post/bar and rebounded to another player who shot over the bar. In the 14th minute we should have gone 2-0 up when AD put a cross in from the left that deceived the keeper due to Liam’s challenge and fell to JM on the goalline. It bounced up and hit his hand (he says it didn’t!) before he could put it in the net. The ref gave the handball. A couple of minutes later and they attacked down the left and JC made a great stop with his feet. However, it fell to their striker whose powerful shot gave JC no chance to make it 1-1. We then attacked and a difficult chance fell to Louis who shot at keeper. Another good save at the near post from JC prevented them from taking the lead. However, in 22nd minute a cross from the right found their no15 in the penalty area, and a brilliant piece of skill saw him lift the ball over AK and then shoot into the opposite corner giving JC no chance. 2-1 to Woodley. We then pressed for the equaliser and a good run from JM ended with a shot from Louis that went wide. Luke then had a shot that went straight at keeper. In the 26th minute they had a good run and shot that hit the post and they looked to score from rebound but a great saving tackle from Ewan. Another corner from them and another save from JC.  In the last minute we had a chance to equalise. JH went on a good run down the right but took the ball too close to the byline and they cleared. A disappointing defeat for the lads after the first half performance, but Woodley just about deserved it, especially as JC was given Man of the Match for his outstanding saves, closely followed by Jacko and Ewan at centre-back and Louis in the centre of midfield. We now need to get the lads to perform to their highest level for 60 minutes and not the 30 minutes that we have got in the last two games. Our next game is not until 12th, when we have an ”all-purley” clash with the U12 Pirates in the Plate Cup.