Alexandra Park@ under 9 North ??V ??London Colney Colts Under 9 Blues : a match of two very different halves
Report by Ellie Jay Ch
We arrived to warm up in some very wet weather on the Power league pitches in Enfield. By kick off the rain had nearly stopped but we found ourselves surprised to be playing on a tiny pitch it was very narrow, under 1/4 of a full size and easily a five aside under 8 pitch.
The tiny pitch went against us as we normally have Henry and Alby powering up the wings but there was no space to run and if we passed up to the box the space to shoot was too small. This unfortunately just didn’t support a good passing play. APY also capitalised as we settled in to our positions after making subs.
A free kick from a foul at centre line gave APY their first goal, the small pitch to their advantage they shot top bins and although Jonas got his hands to it it wasn’t one we could have stopped. ??14 mins:APY??1-0??
APY got lucky and scored again in the first half in a goal we might have stopped on a different day.
??18 mins: APY ??2-0??
It was difficult to watch as the Colts dropped their heads a little and it was hard to see them struggle with the small pitch and to be down against a team they looked to be able to beat.
HT
Something had to change for the final half. Luckily the boys adapted their style for the pitch, possibly not the way we would want to play but it was pleasing to see the boys adapt to different play styles when needed and to find their fight when they are down . The first goal came after a failed APY attack, Jonas made his goal kick pass out to Arthur, Arthur made the long range (on the small pitch) pass out to Oscar who took it on the break and slotted it in the goal bottom corner out of the keepers reach.
33mins: ????2-1?? Oscar (Arthur assist)
After the first goal the heads lifted again and the Colts saw once again what we saw that this was their match. The boys kept hammering away and creating chances. One such chance came from a series of Colts corners. On the third corner/ goal side throw in, Cian took the corner and blasted it into the box just in front of the goal, he got great power on it and although the goalie got fingers to it the power on jt caused a rebound off an orange player and straight into goal.
36mins: ????2-2?? OG (Cian’s corner) It was all to play for now for the final 15 minutes and both teams knew it. Colts had found their stride and were the stronger team. They created lots of chances and there were so many times we thought they might score.
The tiny pitch came into play again but the boys had adapted well. Alby ran the ball up the left wing and used his strength to ensure he didn’t lose the ball, winning a throw in. The throw in went directly to goal and actually nearly rolled over the line! The goalie finally got his hands to it and when he distributed it back out he didn’t take into account that it wasn’t a goal kick and so his short range pass was immediately under intense pressure from Alby, as Alby ran into the box the APY player passed it out, Arthur intercepted it and lifted it over the heads of all the defenders and into the goal. The keeper got fingers to it but not enough to stop the power on it.
44mins????2-3?? Arthur
The pressure stayed on and we were all very glad to be celebrating the well deserved win.
Man of the Match: Arthur Trainer of the week: Henry
