Not for the first time this season the CTYFC U14 Rebels made the long journey along the A3 where Epsom & Ewell hosted us for our final SYL Premier Elite League fixture of the 21-22 season. Having already been crowned League Champions last week it would have been easy to come into this game with a little complacency. However, our motivation was unwavered as we knew a win or draw would see us go unbeaten throughout the whole league campaign. The pitch was dry and bobbly so tactics were set accordingly as we looked to take the game to Epsom from the start. We did exactly that and got the start we wanted and took the lead on 8 minutes. Oli won a throw deep in the Epsom half which Hayden took and found Zahir in the box. With his back to goal he held the ball up well and turned his man and got to the by-line, his low driven cross found George’s perfectly timed run at the back post and his excellent first time finish found the net. Just 2 minutes later we doubled our lead, this time a throw down the left was flicked on by Oli which found Mikey’s run. He won a corner which Hayden delivered perfectly for Mikey to head in across the keeper and in off the post. Our fast start was aided by Freddie and Isaac defending well, and JJ winning his battles with their tricky left winger, allowing Kris and Erim to control midfield and have a lot of the ball to launch our attacks. In the 18th minute this was again highlighted as following some good defensive work from Freddie and Isaac, Dom used all of his area to come and collect a loose ball. His quick throw found George in space down the left and he made yards into midfield. He found Erim who in turn slipped in Zahir who had made a bursting run through the middle. Zahir took Erim’s ball excellently in his stride and finished calmly passed the keeper. The remainder of the half saw us make some changes with James, Luca DM and Luke all coming on. These changes saw us continue to push forward and several half chances came our way but we couldn’t add to the scoresheet. HT 0-3. More changes at half time saw Luca B and Joe B enter the fray and they both also came on and continued with the high intensity in midfield we had shown from minute one. With the game effectively safe we spent most of the 2nd half pushing for another and making several more changes, rotating everyone around. Epsom were reduced to ten men in the 58th minute following a straight red card for violent conduct when frustration got the better of their striker when he aimed a punch at Erim whilst he was on the floor following a tackle. As usual Dom remained focused and following a quick counter attack from Epsom in the 61st minute made a smart save from an awkward bouncing shot, Hayden clearing the loose ball. The desire shown to keep a clean sheet was evident right there. No more goals and we comfortably saw the game out. FT 0-3. An amazing and throughly deserved achievement from this outstanding squad to complete the whole league season unbeaten, finishing with a record of P18 W14 D4. The ‘INVINCIBLES’! MoM - Zahir and Erim jointly take the award this week. Erim with an assist, keeping his cool when punched and general contribution in midfield was excellent and Zahir for his energy and creativity seeing him bag another goal and assist. The season is not quite done though with one more match to go, so no time to relax yet as we have to go again one more time…….. come on the Rebels…
