A heart stopping match with a last minute win ??London Colney Colts U9 Blues Vs Northwood Whites U9 ??
Shenley Lane 10 am kick off
We started the match shivering on the windy pitch at Shenley Lane in disbelief we were applying sun screen last Sunday. It was cold for the boys as they warmed up and the grass was very dewy as we started play.
The first 16minutes started slowly with even possession and chances on both sides. Jonas made his first of many great saves 8 minutes in and there were chances for the Colts too with positive runs by Arthur and Alby.
Some crisp passing from the visitors gave them their first goal.
16 minutes :?? 0-1 ??
The remainder of the first half passed much the same with danger in both halves including a powerful shot from Oscar and some half chances for Elliot with good positioning but no more goals.
Some lessons to learn in the first half as even I didn’t know under 9s now had no back passing to the goalie and we were indeed given an indirect free kick against us in the box for this and it looked a little like the opposition were similarly learning and hadn’t practised indirect free kicks so fortunately we didn’t suffer for it.
HT: ??0-1??
Straight off the mark in the second half the Colts were pressing harder with Cian running and pressuring the Northwood team. There was a big throw in from Henry that Oscar took for a shot at goal and some good positioning from the opposition goalie blocked it. Long and well positioned throws we’re definitely baring fruit for the Blues. Another big throw in from Henry saw Oscar positioning himself nicely for a chance at the goal, he drove forward and got in front of his defender and finished calmly past the keeper.
28 minutes: ??1-1??
Northwood reapplied the pressure and Jonas had to make another excellent save. Northwood took a corner and there was some excellent defending from Ziyad. There were more chances on both sides Northwood got the ball and ran up despite George getting it away with some strong defending Northwood managed to get back in the box and we’re lucky to get it passed Jonas.
34 minutes: ??1-2??
The Colts weren’t taking that. Henry won a battle at the half way line with some strength and skill getting the ball to Oscar who ran i onto the through ball , keeping his eyes on the goal and outpacing the defenders. Great decision making as Oscar took the shot just at the box and got his right foot to it shooting the ball top of the net where no one could stop it.
36 minutes: ??2-2??
Northwood really applied some pressure and won a free kick just outside the box. Some more outstanding goal keeping from Jonas protected the score line. Northwood then won a corner which they crossed perfectly into the box. Excellent defending from Sufyan clearing it out of the box. Alby took a very rough tackle from a quite aggressive player. The boys really had their heads up for the last minutes of the game. Cian battled and won the ball taking it up for a great shot from the side of goal blocked by Nothwoods goalie. With only a few minutes left everything looked finely balanced and we were nearly ready to settle for a draw.. Northwood won another free kick just outside The box and some great defending from Alby resolved the danger. At nearly full time Cian won the ball for a couple of throw ins and on the second one the ball made its way to Oscar for the winning goal and his 2nd hat trick of the season! We couldn’t believe it!
49 minutes :?? 3-2??
The final minute or two of play passed with such stress as Northwood continued to make chances for a come back with Jonas making one last great save to protect the win.
FT: ??3-2??
Overall so proud of these boys this week. They have all improved week on week and played as a team using their strengths to hold their positions, get into good spaces and take their chances. As always a thank you to the coaches for keeping these boys motivated to win when they were losing and a thank you to the youth ref who did a good impartial job.
Well done Colts u9 Blues
