Eagles u13 Blues - 07/08 Season
Contact:
Mat Poulter - 01462-480727/07884-060012 - mat.poulter@btopenworld.com
Training times - Friday night 6-30 to 8-00pm at
the Corner Cricket Club,
White Thorn Lane
Match Reports
LGC Eagles U13 Blues vs LGC Eagles U13 Whites
Played on Sunday 11th November 'Away'
With four players recently leaving, and two others injured, only the return of Josh to the squad, and the opposition generously loaning us a player, enabled us to start the game with 11 players on the pitch. We showed early promise, Daniel's pass finding Ben in space, who crossed it in to give George a shooting chance. The Whites hit back on the counter, their forward outpacing Logan, then rounding our keeper to open the score-line. On 10mins Dion was tested again, gathering a fiercely dipping shot. Ben shrugged off his marker to put Daniel on goal, his shot blazing wide, then a Rhys interception fell to man of the match George, his cross setting up Ben whose shot was blocked by a timely challenge. On 19mins the White's pressure started to tell; a shot only parried by our keeper, to gift them their second strike. Ben won a free kick in a threatening position, and George sent an inviting ball into their box, but our forwards failed to convert. Then, on 27mins, a White cross; again parried by our keeper; the score now 3-0. Two minutes later, another corner caused a goalmouth scramble, with the ball ending up in the back of our net.
Within moments of the restart, the Whites had added their fifth, the game almost beyond us now. But the presence of Lemer galvanized our weary players, and we started to play with some purpose. He got straight into the action, slightly overhitting as he drove forward. Dion could only parry another shot on the counter, but this time Logan cleared up to save his blushes. On loan Ben got a good block in for us, then Josh drove forward to put Leon through, only to be stopped by a crunching tackle. Dion pulled off a great save at the back, Leon racing down the touchline on the counter to win a throw near their corner flag. Jason got stuck in with a well timed interception, but then the Whites struck again to make it 6-0. Ryan's shot went wide from a trademark long throw from Daniel; Ben's shot going the same way after a cross in from the wing, the ball again delivered by Daniel. Then, in the dying seconds of the game, Lemar won the ball in midfield, and put Leon through for a consolation goal, making the final score 6-1.
LGC Eagles U13 Blues vs Sandy Colts
played on Sunday 4th November KO 10.30 home
League Cup
Our old friends from Sandy seemed the livelier of the two teams from the off; catching our defence napping within 3mins, to open the scoreline. Ryan had to help out our under-fire back four, blocking another Sandy shot on goal, before an intelligent ball from Lemar in his own half found Aaron, who cleverly beat the goalie to equalize after 13mins. Sandy hit back almost immediatly; their winger carving open our defence all to easily to make the cross; Dion unable to collect this time as they took the lead again. Rhys got another good pass into Aaron, who lost it this time; the Sandy forwards countered with another cross into our box to test Dion. Aaron and Leon combined, the resulting cross to Ben hit wide, then Aaron himself shooting off target. On 20mins Sandy got behind our defenders again, a shot rebounding off the post headed in for their third. Suk made a good clearence into touch, and Logan cleared the ball off his own line. Aaron turned their defender inside out to cross to Leon, who's shot was blocked. Sandy on the counter allmost beat our keeper again. The last chance of the half fell to the lively Aaron, a Ben pass setting up his chance on goal.
The first action from the second half saw a fabulous save from Dion, to keep us in the game. Captain Lemar, leading by example, battled for the ball in the opposition's box; his endevour's rewarded with a fine goal after five mins. Jason got in the action with cracking shot moments later; Lemar roasted their defender only to see his cross blocked. Daniel came out of a tackle with the ball, but his cross went behind for a goal-kick. Then on 12mins a speculative shot from George's left foot went through the keepers legs when he fumbled it. He almost converted another Daniel cross moments later, followed by a Lemar shot wide of target, with Leon the provider. Ryan, and a determined run from Leon, both created shooting oppotunities for Lemar, while at the back Suk came out of a battle with three players with the ball, before blocking a goal-bound strike in his own box. A Rhys clearance found Lemar in space, but he slipped as he made the shot. Then a last-gasp attack from the visitors was thwarted by Ryan, clearing the ball off his own line.
Extra Time! From the kick off we were on the attack; Ryan putting Leon through on goal, to see him wrongly flagged offside. Dion made another crucial save, and George got a good pass into Aaron. Then on 4mins of extra time, Sandy's pacey forward got past our defenders, who were still re-organizing after a substitution, and made it 4-3.
The game was really open as the players tired. Lemar's pace brought a foul by the Sandy defender to earn a free-kick; unfortunately toe-punted wide. Another free-kick on the edge of the box caused a goalmouth scramble; wave after wave of Letchworth pressure was somehow resisted by the visitors. Then in the last minute of extra-time, Jason's drilled pass found Lemar in space, who beat the keeper to level the score again. Ben had a last gasp effort, beating three players to force a corner, the last action of the game.
Penalty shoot-out!
Sandy stepped up to take the first penalty, and slotted it past Dion. Shrugging off his injury, our captain Lemar cooly side-footed the ball into the corner off the net. Their no14 took the next one, and after thwarting so many of our attacks, failed to beat our keeper. Ryan kept his nerve though, to make it 2-1. Dion's confidence was growing; another great save to deny them once again. George's deadly left foot made it 3-1, before hero of day Dion saved yet again [he's never going to let us forget this one!] His jubilant teamates mobbed him to celebrate a famous victory against the odds.
LGC Eagles U13 Blues vs Pin Green Juniors
played on Sunday 28th October KO 12.15 home
The first 10 minutes of this game passed almost without incident as the teams sized each other other up. Then Logan pushed forward trying to drive his team forwards. Stevenage countered, forcing a diving save from Dion. They increased the pressure on our defence, and on 12mins a high shot flew over our goalie's head to break the deadlock. Further pressure saw Jason concede a corner, with man of the match Ryan clearing the ball away. We waited 21mins to see our first meaningful attack; Lemar's lob giving Aaron a shooting chance, then a long throw from Daniel gave him another opportunity. On 23mins Ryan's persistance paid off; he got the ball to Aaron even though he'd been tackled and was still on the ground; then Aaron was brought down by their keeper to force a penalty. Aaron wanted to take the spot kick, but his lack of confidence in front of goal showed when he scuffed it wide. 2 mins later stand in centre-half Josh slotted a precision pass to George; their impressive keeper somehow smothering his shot. Rhys got a good block in on the counter, and a rare mistake by Dion saw him relieved as the shot sailed over the bar. Daniel's superb long throw found Aaron, who's passed it on to Ryan to give him a shooting chance, and a determined surge forward by Leon was only stopped by a crunching tackle.
The second half started quit well for us, the ever hard working Logan putting an excellent through ball to Aaron. Stevenage cranked up the pressure though; Lemar making an important block and clearance. On 6mins their breakthrough came, closely followed by a third and fourth. Daniel had a shot at the other end courtesy of Josh; Dion saving us again when their lively no.9 beat 2 players to test him, and Jason made a last gasp clearance. Then a ball in the box caused confusion amongst our players, the ball ending up in the back of the net after passing through the goalies legs. A battling Logan did his best to prop-up our weary defence, but Stevenage added their sixth after 27mins. Man of the match runner-up Dion pulled off the best save of game, only to see the rampant visitors grab their seventh in the dying seconds of injury time.
LGC Eagles U13 Blues vs Sawbridgeworth Juniors U13 Blues
Played on Sunday 21st October KO 12.15 home
My late arrival meant I missed the first 10 minutes but good news; we were 1-0 up thanks to Leon. Our positive start continued; Ryan side-stepping a lunging challenge to place a precise pass to Aaron; his snatched shot hitting the side netting. Leon blasted a shot directly at the keeper who could only parry it; but saved Leon's following header. At the back Jason made a crunching tackle, and Rhys was doing a good job keeping their winger quiet. Lemar defended a corner, then surged through midfield and past their last defender who took him down from behind, to earn the dubious honour as the very first entry in Malcolm's book! Back on the attack Ben roasted their defender to get a cross in from the left, only to see Will scuff his shot. Logan got into the action running the ball out of defence; Ryan and George played off each other with a 1-2 down the left. Another move started by Logan went via Ryan to Will who put it wide; the resulting free kick catching our defence napping, gifting the visitors an equalizer on the stroke of half-time.
A positive start to the second half; Ben Leon and Will combining to create a chance for Aaron, who was brought down in the box. Captain Will stepped up to cooly slot it home. A Lemar cross just went over Aaron's head; Rhys made a well timed interception on the counter. Then on 8mins the lively Lemar again came out of defence to set up Will for his second strike. Leon saw another shot go just wide, and a rebound off their defensive wall follwing a free kick almost put Ben's name on the scorecard. Back at our end a weak goal-kick forced a great save from our keeper, and Jason saved us with some last-ditch defending. A Ben lob hit the side netting, before Jason set-up Leon for his second of the game. More defensive errors from us resulted in Lemar conceding a penalty; Dion's moment of glory slightly spoiled when his penalty save was pounced on by their forward, to make it 4-2. We countered with wave after wave of attacking play; so many players in their box they got in each others way in their eagerness to score! Fittingly, one of our last chances fell to Will, his shot rebounding off the crossbar, causing a goalmouth scramble. After the game he handed the captain's armband to his worthy replacement Lemar, who's been playing out of his skin, and will no doubt lead by example. Will's been an inspirational leader, and we are going to miss him. Good luck Will.
LGC Eagles U13 Blues vs Stevenage Borough U13 Blues
played on Sunday 14th October KO 12.15 away
The later than normal kick off plus the unusually warm October sunshine, seemed to energize our team, who were up for this tie from the off. Leon got in an early cross to Aaron, and Lemar squeezed of a shot from outside the box. Back in defence, Daniel pulled off an important clearance. Then on 13mins Lemar turned defence into attack with a great pass to Aaron in midfield, who in turn put captain for the day Phil through on goal. He cooly nutmeged the keeper to open the scoreline, with perhaps his last ever goal for for our team. Three minutes later Aaron almost added a second, before combining with Leon to give him a shooting chance. At the other end their lively no.18 gave our defence the slip to test our keeper, before netting on 31mins from a parried save that dropped at his feet, levelling the score. A brilliant pass from man of the match Lemar found Aaron in space but unable to control the ball, followed by a Will cross that Lemar blasted over the bar.
We started the second half well; the twins combining only to see George's shot driven over the bar. Moments later Aaron put a great ball into the box; Lemar converted to make it 2-1. The home side rallied, keeping Logan and Suk busy, but the pressure told when a fierce shot flew over Dion's head after 4 mins. The game really started to open up with end to end action; Ben and Will both seeing shots blocked; Jason making a crunching tackle at the other end; Logan mopping up after a mix-up with his keeper. Lemar put Phil through only to see his shot hit the post, and corner after corner was somehow smothered by the opposition as the game drew to a close, giving us our first point of the season on Phil's last game. He's a great character and we,re going to miss him, especially those jinking runs past defenders when the ball seemed glued to his feet, and his deadly finishing. All the best Phil from all of us.
LGC U13 Blues vs Royston Town Colts U13 A
played on Sunday 30th September KO 10.30 home
The visitors from Royston dominated the first half of this fixture, putting our half asleep team on the backfoot for much of it. Only Jason and the woodwork stopped them from grabbing an early goal; plus a spectacular diving save by Dion after a weak goal kick gifted them the ball. Leon managed to squeeze a shot wide at the other end, before another dodgey goal kick gave Royston the lead on 11mins, closely followed by their second to make it 2-0. Phil turned a defender but his pass was long for Aaron, and George showed some of his silky skills with a great pass with the outside of his foot. A Will headed clearance almost went in his own net; Aaron scuffed a shot at the other end; and Dion made another fine save. Then on 19mins one of our attacks broke down, allowing the Colts to break and score. Royston got their fourth on 29mins shortly after Ryan missed a chance, followed by a great pass from man of the match Daniel through to Phil, who saw his shot saved.
The half time team talk roused our dozy team from their slumber; Logan surging forward and picking out Aaron. Ben and Aaron combined well only to be caught offside, as did Rhys and Daniel shortly afterwards. Another Logan pass found Phil in space, his blocked shot rebounding to Jono who's shot was also stopped. Rhys and Ryan worked together well on the left, and Leon almost put Ryan through to score. A Jono cross was stopped by their keeper; Daniel and Logan both blocked efforts on our goal. A cross from George was too long for Jono to reach, and a pass from Jason found Leon but he couldn't control it. Then, on 25mins, Phil's header soared over their defence; Aaron pounced and scored a deserved goal. Six minutes later Ben scored a rare but well taken goal to give us a more respectable scoreline, only for Royston to grab a late goal in the dying seconds of the game, to settle the match 5-2.
LGC U13 Blues vs Stevenage Borough U13 Reds
played on Sunday 9th Setember KO 10.30 home
A fast start by the visitors signaled their intent; Dion saving twice in the first couple of minutes. But they were stunned by a goal by Ryan from a corner, our first meaningful attack of the game. Aaron had a shot saved after six minutes, then the reds sprung our offside trap to test Dion again. One of Phil's trademark jinking runs forced a corner after nine minutes; Lemar's shot going wide shortly after. A rare mistake by Logan gave Dion more to do, then a long stoppage shortly after to tend to a head injury to our busy keeper. Phil and Aaron combined with a 1-2, and another Lemar shot sailed over the bar. The game had to be stopped again after man of the match Ben got elbowed in the face. Then , in the dying seconds of injury time, Stevenage scored a headed goal from a killer cross to make it 1-1.
We started the second half brightly; a Daniel cross allmost allowing Aaron to score. Then Borough replied by scoring on the break. On ten minutes a dodgy back pass was half cleared by Dion; Stevenage pounced to make it 3-1; wih another added another two minutes later. Phil beat two players to squeeze off a shot, and Aaron missed another chance. Three more goals from the visitors put the tie beyond us followed by a 30th minute penalty to make it 8-1. We didn't give up though, Phil beating four players to score a well deserved goal. Then, in the dying seconds, a lobbed shot flew over the impressive Dion [despite the scoreline!] to make it 9-2.