After the longer than expected Christmas break it was good to get the boys back together playing again. The pitch was not too bad considering the weather but we had to play on the slopey pitch but it is the same for both teams so no complaints there.
The boys all looked up for the challenge and were looking forward to try and get revenge for the defeat earlier in the season at Sax, and they all welcomed Luke who was making his debut after the longest running transfer in youth football 11 weeks must be some kind of record.
On 3 mins Jack took a free kick for an offside and the ball went deep in to the Whitton half and came off one of their players heads and fell to Rossi he raced clear and opened the scoring with a good finish to give us the perfect start. 2 minutes later the lads had Whitton under more pressure and they forced a corner Arron went over to take it the ball went to Ed and he flicked it towards goal it fell to Luke and he smashed it in to score 5 minutes in to his debut and to make it Whitton 0 - 2 Sax.Whitton didn’t threaten our goal until the 10th minute and then it was only a weak shot wide. Connor had a chance on 12 to make it 3 when he was through on the keeper but unfortunately he hit it straight at the keeper. We kept going forward and Ed had the next chance but his attempted lob was not up to his usual standard and it dropped wide. Sax had all the play and Whitton were struggling to cope with all the attacks and when they did get out the defence dealt easily with anything they had. Fish won the ball in midfield and played a great ball through for Connor to get on to but the keeper came out and put it out for a throw. On 15 Arron and fish done well again in midfield and got the ball to Ed but his 1st touch let him down. The pressure on the Whitton goal was constant and on 17 Rossi was through again but the keeper kept them in it with another save that went out for a corner. Arron put it in Finchy got his head to it and it dropped to Connor but his shot went straight at the keeper. Whitton tried to break out and the defence worked hard to force them Wide Tom done well against the number 8 and done enough to make him shoot wide. He then got the ball off Jack and broke forward but the attack was broken up and a ball played forward Jack was quickly off his line to get to ball before the striker. On 28 Kris made another great tackle to break up an attack he got the ball and played it forward to Ryan who beta his player and played a good ball to Rossi but his shot was too close to the keeper. The game was starting to open up and Whitton had a great chance to get 1 back and in most games at any level it would have been a goal 6 yards out with Rossi making a last ditch attempt to tackle the striker from 6 yards hit a good shot at goal and somehow Jack got down to his right and tipped it round the post, a save that would be talked about and viewed from every angle if it was on match of the day. 5 minutes later he was at it again but this time he didn’t use his hands but his boys bits done the trick. On 37 the ball had been won by the Whitton defence and with them trying to get the ball away the 3 lads up front put them under intense pressure and won the ball back Ryan won the ball and gave it to Rossi he found Ed’s feet and he put it past the keeper to make it Whitton 0 - 3 Sax. Whitton had a chance to make 1 more attack but Finchy done well on half way to break it up when it looked like they were going to break free.
The Whistle went and the Half ended Whitton 0 - 3 Sax The lads looked the far better team and were better all over the pitch and the 5 week break not affecting them as much as I thought it would.
HALF TIME Whitton 0 - 3 SAX
We started the 2nd half well and had a shot inside the 1st minute Ryan got the ball to Ed but again he saved it, Rossi then got the ball to Ryan but his shot went wide the 5 week lay off having an effect on our shooting accuracy. The next goal was going to be important and the lads pressed to make sure that it was us who got it, Arron got the ball and played it wide to Rossi he cut in and put the ball past the keeper for his 2nd and the teams 4th and it was game over as far as Whitton were concerned. The Sax Lads looked the better team all over the pitch and whatever changes Whitton made we coped with well and they caused us few problems.
On 50 Ben came on for Ryan and 1 minute later Ollie came on For Connor who was looking dead on his feet. George was ready to come on and was going to replace Rossi but Ed came over and was having problems with his foot so George went straight on and his 1st touch went over the keeper and in but the flag was up for offside unlucky for George Because it would be a perfect start for him. Rossi had another shot saved after Luke played him in, and Whitton had resorted to long shots which were never going to trouble Jack. Whitton did manage to get a cross in but Finchy cooly headed it back to Jack who had called for it a great piece of defending. Jack was called in to action again on 65 and made another good save and the Whitton players were looking more and more frustrated. On 72 George made a good run after Tom had taken the ball off a Whitton player and gave it to him he put in a good cross and it looked like Benji was going to score but the keeper stuck out his leg and saved it. 73 mins and Whitton had a break down the right and crossed a good ball in Jack went up and got a finger to it and flattened the Whitton attacker the loose ball was cleared up by Luke and the danger cleared. On 75 Rossi was clear on goal and he was brought down in the box the ref pointed to the spot and Rossi stepped up to complete his hat-trick, Whitton 0-5 Sax. The game was nearly over but Whitton had time to get 1 Kris thought the ball was going out but the slope kept it in the Whitton no.8 got the ball and raced to the goal and got a consolation.
A great result for the boys and a good debut for Luke the lads who came on all done well and they all understand that it is a team game that they all have a part in Sam didn’t even get on the pitch today which shows how well we were playing. It was good to see all the team there as well even if they were not playing today it shows good team spirit and that counts for a lot in football. Well done for a good result and a greta display of teamwork.
