Boys U10's Thunder - Wellesbourne Wanderers U10 Condors

A tale of 4 quarters would be the best way to describe this game. Conditions were perfect for the free-flowing, attacking game we like to play and the boys certainly started off in that vein, with 2 well-taken goals in the first quarter by Jake and our tails were up.  However, a bit of complacency then set-in and for the remainder of the half we allowed Wellesbourne far too much time and space which, to their credit, they used to great effect and they took their chances with well-placed, powerful shots. 

We went into half time 3-2 down and the boys were a little shell-shocked but they took on board the request from the coaches to reset, refocus and raise their levels.  The commitment and performance levels from the whole team improved markedly throughout the second half and we gradually worked our way back into it.  With the scores tied at 3-3, going into the final quarter, Wellesbourne begun to get worried and their coach resorted to his strongest 7 players, who tried their best to kick a few of our boys off the park, but the Thunder were unperturbed. 

Charlie G made a string of quality saves to keep us in the game and lift spirits. The defence worked hard with Jack making some critical tackles, Edward adding intelligent positioning and interventions to his raw pace. Otto was asked to play wing, midfield and defence and worked hard to snuff out the oppositions attacks, despite having a stone in his boot the whole of the first half!  In midfield Ronnie pulled the strings and covered his defence superbly, as well as getting a really well deserved goal. Charlie T and Noah both played on the wing and up-front during the game, working hard for the team and showing a number of lovely touches in attack.  Arthur was a bundle of energy and noticeably boosted the tempo and accuracy of the team when he came back on in the second half, lifting everyone around him. The last word has to go to Jake with his 4 goals but, even more importantly from the coaches perspective, it was his hard work, focus and work for his teammates (whether on the wing or up-front) which really stood out.  

5-3 was the final result, well deserved and, we hope, a great sign of things to come this season.