| Match Report |
Well, that was chastening! Today was a good lesson (and one I, as much as anyone, need to remember) that kids have good and bad days, much more so than adults. Firstly, we are grateful to Noah for stepping up at the last minute to cover for a late absentee. The first half, kicking up the slope, saw Albie and Samuel in front of Joseph, Noah in central midfield flanked by Alfie (right) and Ollie (left) and Flynn ploughing a lonely furrow up front. Trumpington are a well-coached side and they possess one very good player, who wore a hat, but we should have been capable of holding our own. Alas it was not to be. From the start we struggled to make options to receive the ball and our passing was sloppy, coughing up possession regularly. Trumpington struck our metalwork three times before eventually opening the scoring. It was hoped that this would shock us into action, and in fairness we improved and did created some chances - with Flynn being denied from a lovely turn and shot - but we needed more penetration on our counter attacks and continued to concede goals from our mistakes. One problem we faced was defending quick counter attacks from the Trumpington goalkeeper’s kicks. The killer blow was the last kick of the half, which saw us concede a fourth goal. Character of this team has never been a problem, though, and at half-time there was still optimism we could turn the deficient around. The second half saw Noah and Alfie in defence, with Albie in centre midfield flanked by Flynn on the left and Ollie on the right. Samuel was our forward. A much better performance saw our biggest crime being a failure to play the ball in behind Trumpington and instead playing the ball into feet a little too often. When we did play the ball in behind the defence there was lots of room to run into and only some good saves by the Trumpington goalkeeper and some last ditch defending kept us at bay. The last 10 minutes saw Joseph make his debut on pitch after his excellent showing during the futsal tournament, swapping with Albie (I had seen enough!) and both did very well in their new roles. We were very unlucky to lose this half by a solitary goal scored late. On reflection, had we played at our best I fancy we would have run Trumpington close, but we didn’t and they were worthy winners. Not the best way to end pre-Christmas, but we shouldn’t forget the great strides they have all made. Joseph, as usual, played well, as did Samuel who was combative throughout, full of running and was awarded player of the match for his efforts. Have a good Christmas everyone and we will put this right in the New Year.
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