Not only was this the final game of the season but also our final official game at 7 a side football. From now on we will be playing 11 a side. Apart from the odd tournament. The hope was we'd go out on a high!! The A's also had the incentive of securing runners up medals if we managed a draw or above. League winners, The Hawks were also hoping to finish their season on a high. Add that to the fact that this is a local derby we all knew we were in for a good game.
A Game
We lost 4-1 at home earlier in the season and performed way below our normal level. This was our chance to show the type of game we like to play.
The squad was- Ollie S in goal, Connor S in defence, Freddie, Charlie B & Will in midfield, Dash and Matty up front. Jack and Ollie Mac on the bench.
The first few minutes of the game were pretty frantic but I could see straight away that our lads were up for the game and showed the fighting spirit they lacked last time out. The game settled down and we began to pass the ball around and make headway into their half. We created a number of chances but the final shots were wide of the target or straight at the keeper.
The Hawks main tactic as in the last game was to punt the ball up field at every opportunity to their impressive striker and let him do the rest. This time Connor was ready for him and did a great job stopping him going any further. Will, Freddie and Charlie were getting back to support every time and defending strongly.
We continued to make and miss a load more chances. Jake, the Hawks keeper was now becoming the busiest man on the pitch as the rest of his team struggled to deal with the football we were playing. The worry was that we would be made to pay for missing the chances and eventually we were. They sent a typical long punt upfield, Connor called for it and completely miss-judged the bounce. It went over his head. His only mistake of the game. Unfortunately Ollie was caught rooted to his spot and reacted too slowly, the striker couldn't believe his luck and banged in a goal against the run of play.
Our heads didn't go down and we created more chances right up until half time. 0-1 was the half time score.
The second half carried on pretty much as the first had gone. The Hawks long punt was being dealt with and eventually they abandoned it and played some nice passing football at times. They always looked dangerous on the ball but we were outmuscling them in the middle of the pitch. Both Charlie and Freddie seemed fired up for this one and were proving too much for them to handle.
We continued to pepper their goal and were so close to getting the goal we needed. As it stood we would finish third in the league. Finally we got the breakthrough we deserved. Will sent the ball through the middle to Charlie, he laid it off to the left to Freddie who took it past the defender and fired a powerful shot from just inside the box, the keeper managed to save it but couldn't hold it, Dash had followed the shot in and fired in the rebound. 1-1. We were back in the medals.
We pushed on again and came very close to getting the winner. In the dying minutes of the game we almost lost it as the Hawks created a couple of good chances themselves. We needed some strong defending from Will and Jack and some assured keeping from Ollie to keep us level.
Thankfully the final whistle went and we had secured the point we needed to finish off a great season.
The man of the match award was split between Freddie and Charlie, they battled for every ball and were involved in most of the creative play. A special mention goes to everyone else in the team. Ollie finished off a great season strongly, again pulling off some crucial saves at critical times. Connor, Will, Ollie mac and Jack defended well and put in some great effort attacking as well. Matty and Dash looked dangerous up front and were holding the ball up well, causing the defenders problems.
B Game
We lost the last game with a last second goal. The Hawks had already secured the league last week and Chantry had finished second. The only thing we were playing for was pride!! Unfortunately due to a number of call offs we were left short staffed. We had to draft in Jack to play in goal and I have to say he did very well and seemed to relish playing against his school mates. This also meant we had to forfeit the game and the points.
The line up was- Jack in goal, Kyle in defence, Alex, Keiran & Cammy in midfield, Sam & Charlie W up front. Jake on the bench.
From the kick off the Hawks attacked strongly. Jack and Kyle were the busiest players on the pitch in the opening minutes as we struggled to get out of our half. We needed our midfielders working hard as defenders and our strikers were not seeing much of the ball.
With a torrid 3 minutes on the clock, the Hawks broke through and fired past Jack to make it 1-0.
For some reason going a goal down seemed to settle us and we started to play much better football. We started to create chances and went close to equalising on a couple of occassions. The Hawks always looked dangerous in attack but Kyle was having a great game and was strong in defence. Anything that got past found an acrobatic Jack in goal. The closest they got at that stage was when Jack almost somersaulted over the ball and nearly flicked it into his own net!! not an easy thing to do!!!
We were creating more opportunities up front and Keiran was also having a great game, tackling well and showing some good skill on the ball. He found himself some space in the box and fired in the equaliser. 1-1
It was end to end stuff for the rest of the half and just before halftime the Hawks struck again to make the halftime score 1-2.
We knew we were capable of getting something out of this game and attacked straight from the kick off. We put together a superb passing move which cut open the Hawks involving almost every player on the pitch. It ended with Charlie receiving the ball in the box, he controlled it with his first touch and blasted it home. 2-2. A fantastic build up and great finish.
for the rest of the half we were on top as far as the play went. They found it very difficult to get past Kyle who was again having an excellent game in defence. Sam Keiran and Cammy were flying into every tackle. Alex and Charlie were linking very well on the right, with Alex providing a great supply of passes down the wing for Charlie to run onto. Jake playing in his last game before he drops down to his proper age group was having a good game against older, bigger boys. He was completely unfazed and got on with his game.
We got our reward when another passing move ended with Charlie firing the ball across the face of the goal and Jake reacted quickest and finished into a tight space between the goalkeeper and the post. 3-2.
The rest of the half saw us defend very strongly as the Hawks threw everything at us. Jack and Kyle were again very busy and the midfielders worked their socks off. Disaster almost struck in the dying seconds of the game. After a goal mouth skirmish the Hawks striker fired his shot past a helpless Jack from close range. From nowhere Sam slid feet first the whole length of the goal and somehow cleared it off the line in a massive cloud of dust!! He injured himself in the process by scraping his leg across hard dry ground and had to be replaced. Within seconds of the change taking place the final whistle was blown. We had won 3-2. A well deserved win against the league champions.
Man of the match was again Kyle who has improved game on game for the whole season and has developed into a strong resilient defender. A special mention again to the rest of the team. Keiran showed some great skill on the ball. Cammy, Alex and Sam battled well. Charlie and Jake worked hard up front and were rewarded with well deserved goal.
A great end to the season for both teams. The A's secured runners up medals and were dissapointed not to get the victory they deserved. The B's missed out on a medal by one point!!
Another season over and the end of our 7 a side days. From now on it's 11 a side football. I'd like to say a big thank you and well done to all the boys who have put in a great effort this season and have been a joy to coach. It's been great to get feedback from other coaches who have been impressed with the way our lads play football.
With the changes that have to take place as we move from two teams to one, difficult decisions have had to be made. Well done to those who have made it into the squad for next season and I wish the boys who have missed out every success.
