CHADDERTON PARK FOOTBALL CLUB Under 11’s Cobras Chadderton Park v Springhead Away Date : 7/2/2010 Team Matt Cunningham, Sam Jackson, Jordan Davenport, Daniel Woodcock, Aaron Clegg, Pat Hollywood, Alex Ralphs, Clayton Thomas, Connor Evans, Adam Fisher (Capt.) Subs: James Stott, Sam Carr, Thomas Dean, Cameron Horner. After the disappointing result last week the boys were up for putting that right today. They started well, immediately pressuring Springhead and not letting them settle into any rhythm. The midfield stronghold of Aaron and Pat were proving themselves well, battling for every loose ball which resulted in a ball through to Clayton on the edge of the Springhead area. He struck the ball cleanly and accurately to give the keeper no chance. The boys were on their way. With pressure applied in all departments, we were encamped in the Springhead half. A poor clearance from the goalkeeper fell to Aaron who played a neat pass to Daniel out on the right and Dan threaded the ball to Pat just inside the area and a thunderous shot from Pat smacked in the net. Chaddy now 2 goals to the good and looking comfortable. Cameron then came on for Connor to add a little more punch to the Chaddy strike force. Some good interchange work from both flanks resulted in some half chances for Chaddy Park and not much else. Then a poor goal kick from the Springhead keeper was neatly plucked from the air by Clayton’s right foot and with one flowing movement he drove the ball from about 20 metres out, high into the roof of the Springhead goal and past the helpless keeper. Feeling a little too confident the team seemed to lose their concentration and Springhead began to break through on a number of occasions. A ball crossed from the right into the heart of our defence who seemed to freeze while the unmarked Springhead player rammed the ball in our net. Shortly after and still reeling from the shock we were again caught napping. A poor goal kick fell to an unmarked player just outside our area who struck the ball high and out of the reach of the Chaddy keeper. Shaken up by this we again gingerly pushed forward as if not wanting to get caught again. Jordan won the ball deep in our half with a crunching tackle, before effortlessly gliding past player after player. He found himself in shooting range and drove the ball hard and low towards the bottom corner of the Springhead goal. It was looking like the keeper had it covered but he let it through his legs to be saved by the foot of the post! Getting back into our stride a bit more now and passing the ball around better, Clayton again found himself in a space at the edge of the opposition’s goal area. He looped a high ball over the stranded goal keeper to finish the half at 2-4. Cameron continued to battle hard in attack and found himself with a couple of chances that on another day would have found the back of the net. 2nd half With Daniel already having made way for Sam Carr to enter the field shortly before half time the line-up stayed the same for the start of the second half, which started well with Cameron fighting hard in attack and midfield, together with Aaron and Pat doing the same. This hard work was to be undone by some very dubious refereeing that gifted a goal to Springhead, which lifted their spirits immensely. Here was me thinking it was only women who didn’t know the offside rule, it just shows you how wrong you can be. This caused quite a bit of disruption to our game and before too long we found our defence and midfield caught out again and led to a one-on-one with the lone Springhead striker and the Chaddy keeper. Unfortunately we lost out and the score was all square. Time to change things around and Thomas joined the play, Sam Jackson moved in to midfield and shortly after Connor Evans came back onto the field with a fresh approach to his game. This started to work in our favour and again we were soon applying a barrage of pressure to the opposition. Some inter passing between Matt and Sam Carr on the right led to Sam whipping the ball low across the Springhead goal. Falling just out of reach of Clayton’s stretching foot (much to the relief of Clayton’s Dad) it found an unmarked Alex Ralphs, loitering with intent to score at the far post, and he coolly side footed the ball into the net. Chaddy were back in the lead. This seemed to spur the boys on and we just kept coming at them and at times with such clinical passing and movement off the ball that it made us all stand and watch in awe! Clayton again ever-present in and around the Springhead goal area reacted quickly to a fumble by the Springhead keeper to grab his fourth goal! Springhead seemed to be well and truly pinned in their own half of the field as the relentless battling of Pat, Aaron and Sam Jackson in midfield meant they couldn’t find any relief from our threats on goal. Pat again, as he had so many times before, found himself collecting the ball in midfield from a desperate clearance by Springhead. He got the ball under control, looked up and from about 30 metres out fired the ball high into the roof of the Springhead net and judging by the look on his face, I think he enjoyed that strike! Feeling and looking more like the Chaddy Park we know we settled down and continued to pass the ball around quite well at times and then frustratingly couldn’t pass it 3 metres! Pat Hollywood and Alex Ralphs made way for James to get in on the action and for Daniel Woodcock to get back on for the later stage of the game. James had his usually solid centre half’s game and making sure any signs of a Springhead revival were snubbed out early was ably supported by some great cover work from Thomas Dean. Both of them were strong and sure-footed in their tackles, winning the ball and then clearing our lines from danger, under the guidance and ever-present support from captain Adam Fisher. Danny worked hard on the left this time, linking up well with Adam, Sam Jackson and Jordan to carve out some good moves on goal. Sam Jackson suddenly found himself in loads of space, was spotted by Jordan and from a quick throw in, Sam collected the ball and turned goal bound. He casually skipped past two players and looking ready to line up a shot, fooled everyone and slid a pinpoint pass through to Sam Carr to the right of the Springhead goal. This time Sam made sure he drove the ball hard and low into the corner of the Springhead goal. Shortly after Sam Carr again found himself with the ball at his feet, managed to loop the ball into the net and out of reach of the stretching keeper. We had a couple of heart-stopping moments in the dying minutes of the game but the safe hands and sometimes foot of Ellis came to the rescue on more than one occasion. Sam Carr continued to frustrate the Springhead defence in the later stages of the game, as he had throughout most of the 2nd half. He laid a ball through to Connor who this time continued his run at goal and got his just reward with a clean strike of the ball hitting the back of the net to put the final touches to a good all round team performance and worthy winners 4 – 10. Final score Springhead 4 v 10 Cobras Scorers : Clayton Thomas 4, Sam Carr 2, Pat Hollywood 2, Alex Ralphs, Connor Evans Man of match: Pat Hollywood.
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