Friendly v Kirton Kestrels 25th October 2008

During the season we have a lot of free weeks where there are no league or cup fixtures. We've managed to fill most of these with friendlies to keep the boys match fit. They are also a lot more fun than training!!

Today we played hosts to 1st division opposition, Kirton Kestrels. They are one of our local derby teams and we always have good games against them. At Kirtons request we played the B game first.

B Game

The line up was- Alex in goal, Curtis, Cameron and Ollie M in defence, Nat and Charlie W up front. Connor R and Jake on the bench.

The game started at a frantic pace, we settled quicker and started playing the ball the way we've practised, passing and moving. Kirton defended well but I was very pleased with the performances of our lads all over the pitch. Dan is improving with every game and his tackling kept Kirtons attacks at bay. New signing Curtis is starting to find his feet with the team and had his best game for the club so far. Cammy played the central role very well and was able to get attacks started by playing simple passes. Ollie Mac battled well on the right and following on from last weeks performance managed to find his range with his passes and crosses. both Nat and Charlie W played their part by dragging the defence wide and creating space. With all this positivity all over the pitch it was inveitable that we would find ourselves 1-0 down!!! We conceded a soft corner when it would have been easier to kick it out for a throw in. The kick was well taken and met with a thunderous(Will o Maley style) header, giving Alex no chance in goal.

We continued to battle and got our reward when we were awarded a corner just before half time. Curtis somehow managed to score straight from the corner past the flapping goalkeeper. 1-1 was the half time score.

Charlie and Curtis made way for Jake and Connor.
The second half began and we pushed forward. Kirton by this time had upped their game and were causing us a few problems. Alex found himself with more to do and was coping with the attacks well. As we pushed forward the Kirton keeper got the ball and belted it up the park where the striker found himself on a one on one with Alex. He finished it well making it 2-1 to Kirton.

My recollections are notoriously sketchy at best(a bit of a hindrance if you're the one who writes the reports!!) The next phase of the game passed me in a blur. Somehow Kirton took hold of the game and scored three goals. I don't think we stopped playing they just seemed to get it right. 5-1 to Kirton.
Our heads never went down though and we continued to attack. Jake battled strongly and won the ball before putting in a great pass to Connor who banged it in at the back post. 2-5.
Kirton scored again to make it 2-6 and once again I managed to completely miss a goal as Curtis scored soon after kick off. 3-6.

This was the final score. Apart from a spell in the second half the scoreline doesn't reflect the overall play. Man of the match was Ollie Mac for his battling performance and superb distribution. A special mention goes to Dan and Cammy. Another two great performances.

A Game

The line up was Ollie S in goal, Connor S in defence, Jack, Charlie B and Will in midfield and Freddie and Keiran up front. With new signing Jordan (Dash) on the bench. Due to injuries we later had to draft Cameron into the game.

Both teams started the game very slowly. Neither team were able to find any rythm for the first 5-10 minutes. Eventually we started to impose ourselves and take control of the game. As in the first game this led to a goal for Kirton!! Connor was finding our ex player Charlie a handful at the back. He was giving him a bit too much space and Charlie looked dangerous everytime he got near the ball. However once he had scored Connor was able to up his game and played him out of the game for the rest of the match. Jack Charlie and Will worked hard across the midfield whilst Freddie and Kieran began to impose themselves up front. We dominated the last 15 minutes of the half but couldn't quite get the goal we deserved. Freddie made way for Dash who made an almost immediate impact, pouncing on a loose ball in the box and firing home from close range to make it 1-1. Just on the stroke of half-time Charlie managed to get a cross in which was finished by Jack. 2-1 was the half-time score. A well deserved lead. Freddie replaced Keiran up front.

The second half kicked off and within minutes Kirton had equalised. We had at least four opportunities to tackle and clear and were punished with a sloppy goal. 2-2.

From then on it was pretty much end to end stuff. both teams looked dangerous in attack and both defended strongly. Freddie and Dash linked well and were unlucky not to finish off one or two of the chances they were creating. The winning goal finally came from the now familiar route. Charlie Bance banged in another of his superb corners which was met by Jack moss who finished well to make it 3-2. Charlie has now set up 4 of our last 5 goals with crosses or corners. Jack has got on the end of three of them!!
Connor was given a well deserved rest with 10 minutes to go after having spent the whole game keeping Kirtons strikers in check. 30 seconds later he was back on the pitch to replace an injured Jack who had taken a stur to the foot. A minute later Connor tackled a Kirton player and stopped an attack but was also injured in the process and had to limp off. Cammy who was messing about behind the goal was summoned and found himself in the thick of the action before he knew it. Kirton attacked well in the closing stages and almost got an equaliser in the dying seconds. They couldn't get past the defence or Ollie though and we finished the game 3-2.

This was a decent team performance. We can play better than this and were prone to switching off for periods in the game. We did however grind out a result in a very competitive game so I shouldn't moan too much!!
When the team perform as a unit it makes choosing Man of the match much harder. This week it goes to Charlie Bance. Mainly for his crosses and corners. He was also up against Kirtons strongest player and performed very well. a special mention to Jack for finishing the moves and also well done to Dash. A good debut performance and a goal as well.