Player ratings by Mr. B POS P W D L GD PTS 1 Crawley Panthers A U14A 5 5 0 0 33 15 2 Southdown Athletic U14A 6 4 1 1 19 13 3 Hurst Hornets U14A 4 2 1 1 6 7 4 Cuckfield Cosmos United U14A 5 2 1 2 -2 7 5 TD Shipley Youth U14A 4 2 0 2 -7 6 6 Cuckfield Cosmos Athletic U14A 4 1 0 3 -10 3 7 St Francis Rangers U14A 5 0 1 4 -17 1 8 Crawley Panthers B U14A 3 0 0 3 -22 0
Crawley Panthers under 14’s Blue sponsored by S&N Tyres braved the torrential ran and strong winds and travelled to Hurstpierpoint to take on one of their rivals for the league title.
The bad weather conditions ensured that neither team especially Panthers could play a decent game. The windy conditions meant the ball remained on one side of the pitch for long periods with mistakes being made by both sets of players.
Hornets took the lead from one such error with Panthers responding moments latter when a Brendan Milborrow corner found the back of the net without any other contact being made.
Five minutes later Jordan L'etendrine put the blues in the lead with a strong shot only for the home team to equalise due to errors and poor marking. Panthers never say die attitude and weakening conditions produced the best football of the first half when Milborrow latched on to Jermaine Beer’s pass to thunder a low drive past the stranded keeper.
The second half saw Panthers maintain pressure and control the game for large periods with keeper Robbie Legg and defensive partners Ben Rogers, Sam Truelove, Jake Truelove, Will Bateup, Adam Ceschin and Jean Moutein rarely troubled.
Hayden Bulloch playing his first full game for nine months due to injury along side Jobe Wolfe, Edwin Murahwa and Seika Jatta controlled the midfield and between then found L'etendrine who fed Beer to calmly slot in to the bottom corner.
MOM Beer added his second 15 minutes before the end after receiving the ball wide, cutting inside the approaching defender and drawing out the keeper allowing him space hit Panthers fifth.
For the first time this season, Panthers had all fourteen players on show with eight wins out of eight in all competitions, 73 goals scored, four conceded, and top of the league, oh happy days!
Score Hurst Hornets 2 Crawley Panthers 5
Team: Robbie Legg, Ben Rogers, Sam Truelove, Jake Truelove, Will Bateup, Edwin Murahwa, Hayden Bulloch, Seika Jatta, Adam Ceschin, Jean Moutein, Brendan Milborrow, Jordan L’etendrine, Jermaine Beer, Jobe Wolfe
