SAHA COLTS 1 – Ryan SINCLAIR UNITED 1
Colts started off with intent. Within the first minute they had already gone close on two occasions. Ryan controlled the ball sweetly on the halfway line, took a couple of steps forward and fired a strong left footed shot that the keeper did well to palm away. Soon after, George played a one-two with Ryan, went past his man and played a firm pass across the goalmouth but no one was able to get a vital touch to it.
A couple of minutes later, Will controlled a throw-in on his right foot and then volleyed it with his right foot just over the bar. A magnificent effort.
Colts continued to pile on the pressure. George received the ball inside his own half, made a strong run forward then hit a firm left-footed shot that the keeper parried into the path of Matty. The keeper then did a Jerzy Dudek and saved twice from Matty at close range.
Against the run of play, Sinclair took the lead in the fifth minute. A speculative shot from the left wing bounced in front of Zen who could only deflect it into his own goal (0-1).
Sinclair almost went two up in the final minute as a long range free kick struck the cross bar.
At the death, George battled for the ball in the Sinclair penalty area and managed to feed the ball to Ryan who couldn’t miss from close range.
A well-deserved point for Colts against a tough side.
SAHA COLTS 1 – George BAYSTON HILL JUNIORS 0
In their next fixture, Colts faced another tough opponent. Bayston Hill had recently won the Shrewsbury Juniors tournament and Colts knew that they would have to be at their very best to get anything out of this game.
Colts started brightly. In the second minute, the ball was worked from Zen, through Cole, who played a lovely pass out to the wing to Finn. Finn battled hard to play it centrally to George, who sidestepped his opponent before playing a return ball to Finn. Colts’ Number 9 ran in on goal but was foiled at the last second.
Colts continued to apply pressure and took the lead in the following minute. George won a Bayston Hill throw-in on his chest and let the ball bounce before firing in with his right foot. (1-0)
Colts held onto the lead and never truly looked like conceding with a committed display of tackling and pressing throughout the team. A terrific win against a very good side.
SAHA COLTS 0 MEOLE BRACE JUNIORS 2
Colts’ next game against Meole was a case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’.
Meole were a big, physical team but certainly not at the same level as Bayston Hill. Meole’s movement and long throw-ins presented a threat in the early stages but Colts came closest to taking the lead with a long-range shot taken first time by Cole in the fourth minute following another good team move.
Meole came closer a couple of minutes later after Zen palmed a long range shot onto the post. Colts came back at Meole and Matty was unlucky to not get onto to the end of a long cross at the back post.
In the eighth minute, Colts got caught in possession on the left flank and Meole raced down the touchline before providing a cross for the striker to simply put away past Zen.
In the final minute, Meole sealed a 2-0 victory after a corner was deflected into the net off the hands of Zen.
A big blow for Colts. It was going to be a very big ask to qualify to the next round after this result.
SAHA COLTS 1 – Ryan WREKIN JUNIORS TIGERS 1
Colts knew that they had to win this game to stand any chance of progressing into the next round. Tensions were high and a number of Colts boys were trading words on the half way line with Wrekin’s Number 7 who clearly wanted to win the mind games battle.
Colts started with the same intent as they did in the Bayston Hill game and took an early lead after George squared for Ryan to finish from a few yards out (1-0)
In the sixth minute, Colts played a lovely move from Zen, through Cole, Freddie and Ryan, leading to a corner. As the ball was cleared, Colts failed to get in tackles on two opportunities on the left side of midfield, which led to both defenders being pulled out to the wing. Wrekin found a cross into the box which Zen palmed out into the path of the unmarked striker to equalise (1-1).
Colts had one final chance to seal the victory in the last minute but George’s free kick from the left wing went just over the bar.
A point would normally have been a good result in this fixture but Colts knew it probably wasn’t enough.
SAHA COLTS 0 LAWLEY LIGHTMOOR GALAXY 1
The previous group game resulted in a victory for Bayston Hill against Meole so Colts knew that their final group game was being played only for pride.
Colts had another good start. George won the ball in midfield in the second minute and his shot went narrowly over the bar. Seconds later, Matty broke through but couldn’t quite get enough power on his shot.
Colts continued to probe and were unlucky not to get on the end of a good cross from Finn and a through ball from George.
Freddie had a couple of headrushes where he forgot what sport he was playing which led to freekicks for handballs but Colts kept them both out. The second being a great diving save from Zen.
Three minutes from the end, Colts conceded another soft goal from a corner and the deflation was palpable (0-1).
Once again Colts hadn’t been outplayed but fell foul to a soft goal. There was clearly too many Liverpool supporters in the team used to bad defending at corners!
Colts couldn’t be accused of lacking in effort and were the better side in most games but need to develop a tougher approach to keeping goals out and a bit more firepower up front.
