last 3 games of 2010-11

Castletown 5 -4 u15s 28/04/11<?xml:namespace prefix = o />

I’ve used many adjectives this season to describe the best of Brad’s 8 goals and his (now) 5 man-of-the-matches but “stunning” will have to suffice for his equaliser tonight to make it 3-3.

It wasn’t just the relief that we’d fought back from a really quiet, lacklustre, terrible, start but the stunning nature of, firstly, the control and secondly the accuracy over the distance he hit it – and with his right foot - no longer to be called his “weaker” foot.

I’m sure <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Wayne won’t mind me quoting him when I tell you that he said the period when we were 3-3 and then 4-3 up contained some of the best football he’d seen and that included the television. It was terrific one-touch, two-touch, triangular, intelligent stuff and we should be really proud of it. “Good habits” as another coach you all know might say.

Dan Mossop, Brendan, Luke, Sam and Joe will forgive me for this but let’s just say it was a tale of a vastly improving game for them all. It started like StockportCounty and finished more like Barcelona. The introduction of Dan Graham and Caine after 20 mins seemed to be a catalyst for more controlled football so full marks to them but everyone’s game lifted once Jack Stephenson had had to pick the ball out of the net 3 times. Jack played well, great kicking again and was not at fault for any goal.

Hayden, Brad, Andrew Stobbart and Jack Spiers all competed really well to help get our momentum underway and their control and running on a hard pitch was good to watch from the touchlines. Well done, it was warm work and there was some great passing. Joe’s overlapping runs when he came back on were great.

So Dan Graham’s cool finishing, not least when he waited and waited until slotting home from a narrow angle to score his second of the game and 9^th of the season, and Liam’s well-hit 10^th of the season were over-shadowed by 3 really scrappy goals by Castletown in amongst their 5. They all count.

But, no Hayden, it doesn’t count as a goal to you when it comes off the back of your calf ! Good try though.

Kingstown 3 – 1 u15s 01/05/11

Today belonged to Kingstown. They were pretty elated at the end and no wonder.

They virtually scored the same goal 3 times off 4 second-half chances and once their tails were up we were really chasing the game and not playing enough football.

They, like us, must’ve thought we’d coast with the strength of the wind behind us but you need to control the ball to play football; it needs to be to feet and not pinged off-target from 30 yards out.

We seemed to become a different team after working so hard in the first half.

Thanks for those who had something to say post-match, I was listening about what was said about the substitutions and the half-time talk. I appreciate it because it’s not easy to speak up.

We picked out 3 players of theirs at the half-time talk and then didn’t pick them up in the game, that was discussed, but it’s my fault if it wasn’t clear enough.

They played better on the break in the second half. We were slow against their breaks.

As for substitutions, we had two pairs of strikers for half of the first half and were 0-0 at the break. Not a disaster playing into a gale.

The two named left backs were swapped and that wasn’t a problem position during the game.

Brendan Jones was the man-of-the-match; perhaps one lesson was that he was underplayed. 

A tough day for Dan Mossop and Dom Mandale to be off for so long also, but I really thought we had enough on the pitch to get a result today.

U15s 1 – 2 Warwick Wanderers 03/05/11

Much better tonight, much better than Sunday and despite the loss, there was a good atmosphere.

Our first-half opener from our season’s leading goal-scorer Liam Orr seemed to put us at ease and despite the bobbly bounce from the bone-hard pitch we played some good football with man-of-the-match Dom Mandale’s running a feature of both our attacks and our covering play.

Unfortunately for us Warwick bided their time and came strongly into the 2^nd half with some good distribution from their man-of-the-match Young. The game was settled by goals from Day and Little after our only display of hesitant defending in the whole game in the last few minutes in what was a very entertaining game.

Perhaps we were unsettled by the award of the free-kick against us but we should have dealt with it. Never mind. 

Luke, Dan Mossop, Charlie and Brendan were great. They looked quick over the ground which was important when it’s so dry and they gave Jack good cover. Jack dominated his box and marshalled well.

The two midfields we played looked pretty good also – maybe it upset some rhythm but it is the end of the season and we have to look towards next year. Dan Poole, Jack Spiers, Brad Jenkin and Dan Graham set us up well and played with real effort. Andrew Stobbart, Reece and Hayden took over wholesale at half-time and, whilst that’s not easy, they settled in well and we created a few chances from midfield to win it – could Sam Greaves have hit it better, could Dan have squeezed it inside the post, on another day yes but it wasn’t to be. I’m pleased they got themselves into good positions and had the instinct to shoot. I hope no-one’s thinking too hard about what might’ve been. We always score and we should take heart from that.

Don’t forget that Warwick missed a couple of sitters and we could have been in a very different game.     

I think we’ve had a good season playing at u16s level and if we didn’t expect to lose our last 3 games, we played much better tonight, so well done.

Thanks to Claire for the oranges and the cakes and to the supporters and to those who helped clear up tonight.

Thanks to the boys for allowing everyone to get rotated and get a game tonight and to Caine for coming to support even though he is injured.

Thanks for all the parents and carers’ support this season, not just at games but at training too. I’m indebted to you all.

I hope no-one really thinks it’s twaddle when I say we have to learn to treat victory and defeat in the same manner – “If” is Kipling’s poem to read if you have the inclination. It’s how we play that’s important to our Club because you will lose some games when you’re the better team and you do sneak wins against the run of play.

Overall, the table won’t lie at the end of this – or next - season; we have to want to finish much higher than 5^th next season and that’s in our heads as much as it is in our feet and hands. We must be level-headed, skilful and committed.

And we have learnt this season that we must play from the start, not underestimate anyone and be disciplined for the full 80+ minutes.