Felixstowe & Walton Utd v East Bergholt

Firstly a big thank you to all of those who helped out yesterday, sorting out the goals and running the line. It was a good start to what we need to do next season. If we build on this and get as many pairs of hands on board it'll bode well for the future.

A Game

Another great performance following on from last week. The final score was 2-2 which means it all goes down to the last game against Claydon to see who gets relegated!!

The starting line up was:

Goalkeeper: Ollie
Defence: Jack & Will
Midfield: Freddie, Jake & Matty
Striker: Ryan
Subs: Charlie H & Sam

It was another warm morning with a dry, hard pitch to play on. We started very brightly and had the better of the play. I thought our passing and movement was noticably improved and made the game even better to watch. It was end to end stuff and the midfielders had their work cut out for them helping in attack then getting back to defend. Jake got our first after 8 minutes after another passing move which deserved a goal.
Will & Jack defended very strongly keeping East Bergholts chances to a minimum. They equalised with a shot through a crowded area.
As the game continued we had several chances to get back on top but just couldn't get that killer strike. It was very encouraging though to see us play the wide men into the game, as we had worked on in training. A clever pass from Jake found Freddie on a run down the left flank, he managed to get to the goal line but couldn't quite get the cross in. Again some good play down the right with Matty and Charlie didn't manage a goal but made great use of the pitch. The goals will come!
East Bergholt went 2-1 after halftime. A low shot managed to get passed Ollie which Freddie managed to clear off the line, Unfortunately one of their players was first to it and passed it back into the crowd of players where one of them found the net. We continued to play good football but again couldn't get that final finish. Jake had an effort saved low by the keeper, the ball bobbled loose and the keeper did well to block it again, it rebounded to Charlie who's shot went narrowly over the bar.
With legs tiring it was getting more and more dificult to get the final pass, especially as East Bergholt were defending in numbers. Ryan, Jack & Jake continued to try and pass it around and get it through to Charlie. Sam and Will defended superbly right to the end of the game with some great,strong tackling. We eventually got our well deserved equaliser almost on full-time with Jake's second of the day. I didn't actually see the goal as I was discussing tactics with the B team and I agree with Charlie B when he said "I wish they'd show an action replay of that!" i'm sure it'll be on Sky sports at sometime!!
The boys showed that they can play some great football, passing moving and using the space. They also worked very hard for each other and are playing more and more as a team. Every player came off the pitch exhausted.
Man of the Match this week was Jack Moss. for his tackling, passing and overall reading of the game. He put in a superb performance and thoroughly deserves the award.

B Game

Starting line up:

Goalkeeper: Aiden
Defence: Luke & Connor
Midfield: Dan F, Charlie B & Jo
Striker: Harley
Subs: None!!

Not a good day to have no subs. Brandon was ill so we hope he gets better soon and we all know that we've lost Harty for the rest of the season. There was only one change planned and that was at half time Harley and Aidan would swap back to their normal positions.

The game kicked off and we again looked the superior team. We passed and moved and from the start were creating chances. The first ten minutes was played in their half and I don't think Aidan had a touch of the ball. Charlie made a great run down the left but scuffed his final shot wide. Minutes later Frenchy went on one of his runs right up to the spot where Charlie had got to and managed to scuff his shot as well. Harley held the ball up well each time he got it but like the A team we couldn't get a goal at the end of our moves. East Bergholt got more into the game and gave Connor and Luke some work to do. Aidan had a couple of shots to save but nothing too troublesome until he found himself against three attackers, he saved the first shot but they scored with the rebound. Somehow we were 1-0 down!

At half-time we made our swap and unleashed Aiden up front. Minutes into the half an East Bergholt striker got through with only Harley to beat. Harley saved superbly at point blank range, blocked the 2nd attempt then smothered the third. A brave bit of goalkeeping that kept us in the game.
Soon after that we had another few attempt with long runs resulting in no goals. I sent on the message no more runs!! They responded brilliantly with a passing move which fully deserved the goal at the end of it. Frenchy to Bancsy, through to Aidan who cooly rounded the keeper and equalised 1-1.

East Bergholt pressed forward and Connor, Luke & Harley combined well to keep them out. On one occassion they pressed forward, the striker tried to get passed Luke and get clear on goal. Luke tackled him and won the ball, he passed it wide on the right to Joseph who controlled it and passed it forward to Frenchy, he flicked it on and Aidan was off with only the keeper to beat. He shot low into the bottom corner and made it 2-1. which was the final score.

Another good overall performance. We got better chances when we passed the ball and didn't rely on running the whole length of the pitch, expecting to score with tired legs!
The boys battled superbly and having no subs meant they had no breaks of fresh legs to come on as the opposition had.

Man of the Match was Charlie B. He was everywhere, tackling, running, shooting, even clearing one effort off the line. I'm sure I saw him being carried to the car after the game. He'd earned it as all the boys did.

We are now set up for a final showdown with Claydon. We need to win to stay up and so do they. it would be fantastic to stay in division one and build on the improvements we've made against the top teams. As the boys get older they are more able to see that this is a team game. I'm sure anyone watching can see the improvement throughout the season. Please leave a comment to let the boys know what you think!