Boys U10's Thunder - Sky Blues in the Community U10 Hawks
This was possibly the most one-sided draw we will ever see! Despite having +30 shots during the game and hitting the bar 3 or 4 times (amid countless other close efforts).. somehow the short version of this match report is that we came from 0-2 down to snatch a 2-2 draw late in the second half.
The playing conditions were perfect: bright sunlight, bright blue skies, a light breeze and just enough moisture on the pitch for the ball to skip across the grass in a zippy but controllable way. The quality of the warm-up matched the general sense of footballing idyll, with the boys seemingly bright, buzzy and well up for the re-match against Sky Blues. The coaches were keeping a keen eye out for the opposition fielding ringers, noting the gaffer tape/shin pad kid from last time didn’t show (surprise, surprise). Sky Blues did field another handy looking player who didn’t have match kit because he was ‘just trying out’ for the team though.. hmm!
The match began and, within 60 seconds, the suspected Sky Blues ringer had put the ball in the back of our net! An unfortunate start but there was no panic from the boys who took the early set-back on the chin. We began building our way back into the game with some lovely touches from Ronnie and Arthur and some dangerous-looking crosses from Jake, who also tested their keeper with a number of good shots in the first period, but the Sky Blues goalkeeper was very good and proved up to the challenge.
The first changes were made half way through the first half, with Charlie T coming on for Otto and Ally for Edward, and the Thunder were all over the Sky Blues in attack and defence. Noah came on for Arthur and the dominance continued, with Ally co-ordinating and communicating really well from the back. Jack was on fire, showing exceptional commitment and effort and just before half time it seemed inevitable we would equalise with Jake hitting the crossbar, then putting one just wide and Ronnie subsequently missing the target by inches too.. the ball just wouldn't go into the net.
Into the half time break we went and spirits were good. The message from the coaches was to keep our heads and our level up and trust that the goals would come. Jake, Ally and Ronnie starting the second half on the sideline, cheering on the starting 7 who continued to play really well. Otto worked hard during his stint in midfield and Charlie T kept making intelligent runs in attack and defence. Noah, playing up front, was stretching play nicely and had more than a few opportunities to draw us level, and Arthur hit the bar.. still the goals wouldn’t come. Sky Blues were, however, dangerous on the counter attack due to a number of quick and skillful players in their ranks but our defence and, in particular, Charlie G kept us in it with a number of high quality, important saves during this phase of the game.
10 minutes into the second half we lost possession and gave their main striker a bit too much space. He made the most of it and put the ball in the bottom corner for 0-2.. now the parents and coaches really were starting to scratch our heads because the scoreline just didn’t reflect what we were watching. Nevertheless, there was 15 minutes still to go and the boys kept on plugging away.
Our first goal was a cracker, following a corner and lots of pressure in the opposing box from Edward and the rest of the team, culminating in a great steal from Jack, who nicked the ball off one of their defenders, and put it away neatly to get us back into the match. It was 1-2 with 9 minutes left to play.
Just a few minutes later, following further shots and scoring opportunities, Jake received a brilliant through ball from Jack and scored a lovely goal - much deserved after a frustrating morning where, on another day, he could easily have scored 4 or 5.
Although we kept pushing for a winner, which didn’t quite materialise, the boys were quite rightly delighted with salvaging a draw out of a pretty bonkers game and Jack was awarded a richly deserved MOTM award.
Onwards and upwards!
