SBYL under 12 first division
Sat 3RD November 2012
Loughmoss, Carryduff 9.30
Opposition – Carryduff Report by Robert Morrow
Holywood took to the field in almost freezing conditions in an early 9.30 ko against their old nemesis from the mini-soccer era knowing that whoever took the 3 points would go top of the table. The boys were warned beforehand to expect a tough physical encounter and this is certainly how it turned out. We set out our stall to contain Carryduff with a 4-5-1 formation however the gameplan was almost cast aside in the early stages as the referee awarded the opposition a ‘dubious’ penalty. But luck was on our side as the spot-kick completely missed the target. The onslaught from the home team continued however wave after wave of attacks were bravely defended by a starting back-four of Tongai, Tom Mc, Adam & Thomas. These guys were given tremendous protection by Paddy – who was given the task today of sitting in front of the back four and tracking the dangerous runs of the Carryduff number 9 and he carried out this role very well. Mention must also go to Josh in goals who, as per usual, performed to his usual high standards. The forays into the opposition half were brief and few and far between. The attacking midfielders Niall & Tom W tried their best to find Euan up front but service was quite often cut off. Cameron came on for Euan after 20 mins however his best efforts were in vain as well. We saw out the rest of the half hoping the 2nd half would provide us with more opportunities.
Half-time : 0-0
We made a change at start of 2nd half by bringing on Jack for Jamie. We did actually start the half very well however Carryduff opened the scoring against the run of play. The boys responded brilliantly with Tom Wilson scoring a belter with his left foot after clever passing between Niall and Thomas. Game on??....not quite!! We got caught napping 2 mins later when the Carryduff striker broke through our defence almost unopposed to make it 2-1. We didn’t let it get to us and on 40 mins Niall buried one from 10 yards out to level again. The game swung end to end in the remaining 20 mins. Josh Burford provided stability at left back where most of the attacks came front, steadying things and playing good balls into midfield. Excellent chances fell to Cameron and Thomas but we just couldn’t grab that winning goal. Jamie came back on for Cameron and led the front line really well. We peppered the Carryduff goal with crosses looking for that winner but in the end we had to settle for a well deserved draw. A strong team performance all round and really hard to pick a man of the match but due to Tom’s cracking goal and his vision and clever passing going forward he gets the nod.
Result : Carryduff 2 , Holywood 2
Goal scorers – Tom Wilson & Niall Grimley.
MOTM - Tom Wilson.
