First game of the season in a new league away to Cherry Moor Brook Fc in Lostock. There had been plenty of rain overnight and first thing in the morning but the pitch condition was excellent (hopefully more of the same as it would be a big improvement on the North Bury league!).
Full squad bar Owen available and the lads were ready to go after a little pep talk around keeping hold of the ball and retaining possession on such a big pitch. However the first 30 mins went by with both teams guilty of giving away possession regularly and not many chances were created for either team. We began getting a foothold in the game just before the half hour and soon after took the lead when Jack managed to get a fine shot away across the keeper. It seemed to spur the lads into playing and soon after it was 2-0 as Charlie showed great persistence following a run where he beat two players, then lost the ball but worked to win it back and was rewarded for his efforts with a neat finish past the keeper. We had a couple more half chances before the interval with the CMB keeper making a great save from Jack and a couple of corners which we had efforts blocked by CMB bodies.
Half time CMB FC 0 Rammy Utd Juniors 2
A couple of changes were made to keep things frsh with Euan coming on upfront for Joe and Harvey at right back for Reece (Scott had come on for James half way through the first half). Lads were encouraged to not be as wasteful with the ball and look to kill the game off early in the second half as the oppositions heads would drop.
Second half got underway with us having the majority of the ball but not really carving open a decent opportunity as our final ball was either too long or cut out by the CMB backline. CMB to fair to them had a spell where Rory had to be on hand to deal with an effort from distance and again when the striker managed to break free from Sam and Ethan's shackles but screwed his foot wide with only Rory to beat. Harvey was combining well with jack on the right and on a couple of occasions could have shot instead of crossing when maurauding down the right hand side. However we managed to get the important third goal when Harry made a run from midfield onto Scott's through ball and after the defender had at least three nibbles at him, the referee called for a penalty. Ethan despatched the penalty with aplomb and the points were safe. The game became a little open for the last ten minutes as we changed to 3 at the back at their was a couple of uncomfortable moments and as CMB went in search of a goal we nearly scored ourselves with Euan unable to get a clear shot away when the keeper came out of his box and half cleared the ball and Aaron hit the outside of the post with another effort from distance.
Final score CMB FC 0 Rammy Utd Juniors 3
All in all a comfortable win even though the lads were not at their best for the majority of the game. There is likely to be more difficult tests I would have thought but this division on the face of it could be a very open one. Man of the match was Charlie for his tireless running all game and his goal to boot.
