Our penultimate league game of the season saw the CTYFC U14 Rebels travel to play Woking Cougars, knowing that a victory would see the Rebels crowned SYL Premier Elite champions. We entered the game with most of the boys playing their 4th game in 7 days (school matches and also a mid week SYL fixture) so urged them to focus on the job in hand. From the first whistle we took control and found good possession and territory. We carved out some early chances, Oli and Freddie testing the keeper from long range, Mikey shot wide and Isaac headed over from a corner. Despite our pressure we were still a bit nervy and had to concentrate when defending some good set piece deliveries from Woking but we held firm. Our patience was finally rewarded when we finally broke the deadlock and opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Oli raced on to a flick on from Zahir and won a corner. Hayden delivered and it fell to Kris whose shot from the edge of the area nestled low into the far corner. Up to this point JJ had been really strong at the back, timing his tackles very well, keeping passes simple and giving Dom good angles. Kris and Erim again were bossing midfield and George was working hard down the left to link up with Mikey and Freddie. Having made the breakthrough we seemed to relax and moved up a gear making it 2-0 just 2 minutes later. Freddie played back to Dom who found Zahir in space. His control and turn enabled him to play a great long ball in behind their left back where Hayden had made a good run. The ball was perfect and Hayden cooly and brilliantly chipped the on rushing keeper from the angle. James and Joe B then came on with fresh legs to keep the momentum and we soon scored again on 29 minutes. A free kick on half way - wide on our left was delivered by Freddie. His slight miscue fell in our favour as a scramble on the edge of the box fell kindly for Isaac who burst into the box and finished neatly at the near post under pressure from a defender. A minute later it was nearly four, Oli dropped in the pocket and turned brilliantly and his perfectly weighted through ball found Zahir but his shot just clipped the bar. More good work down the right shortly after from Hayden and JJ, enabled Hayden to play a searching ball forward. Indecision in the defence saw Mikey pounce and nodded the ball past the keeper. HT 0-4. The second half was all about trying to maintain the high standards and quality but it was always going to be a tough ask considering we were now just 35 minutes away from the title. We rotated and made several changes and the rhythm of the game had slowed considerably, partly due to lots of silly free kicks being conceded by both teams. Oli showed a glimpse of his electric pace, leaving a defender in his wake but his shot was saved by the keepers legs. We scored again on 61 minutes when Oli again picked up possession, held up well and released James down the left, he beat his man and cut back for Mikey to finish. James himself completed the scoring in the 68th minute. Hayden delivered a cross that travelled right across the edge of the box and James running in from the left let the ball come across his body to smash the bouncing ball in on the volley giving the keeper no chance. FT 0-6. With the last 2 seasons being scrapped due to COVID the title was finally ours. The final whistle brought relief and joy as we had now achieved our long term goal of becoming Surrey Youth League - Premier Elite Champions. A fantastic and much deserved achievement from all the boys who have been involved with the squad this season - and done with a game to spare. The coaches and parents could not be prouder of the hard work, dedication and performances week on week that these boys have delivered. MoM - on the day Hayden for his goal and 2 assists and JJ’s solid and aggressive defensive display earned a joint award this week. Well done lads but we cannot relax just yet, 2 more games still left to play this season, …..so we go again….
