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Monkton Vipers Reds 2 Jarrow Super Blues 0
A quick apology to the `Reds` faithful who were expecting the weekly literary genius we have all grown to love and await with eager anticipation from Dave `The Wordsmith` Edwardson unfortunately Dave couldn`t be with us this morning. So you will have to make do with my scribblings for one week only..( Robs Dad)
A quick get well soon to both Harry and Lewis & Gary Keenan who couldn`t be with the team today due to being poorly, it`s not the same without you, hurry back guys.
Where to start....... it was a cold, wet and miserable morning in Monkton with a squad depleted due to injuries and a missing Manager who allegedly has contracted a rare case of Man flu. Luckily John Taylor never gets ill and Phil was there in a coffee drinking capacity this morning.
John only had 1 available sub today and subsequently started with the following team
GK – Alex ( The Rock )Capstick
LB – Lewis( The Destroyer) Ireland
RB – Jordan (The Tank) Smith
LW – Adam(Zidane) Wardle
RW – Adam (Superstar) Elstob
MF – Jack(El Nino) Taylor
ST – Rob( Capt Marvel)Thompson
Sub – Taylor ( The Secret Weapon) Nichols
This match had all the issues in place to be a very serious test for the reds, but from the Kick off the reds took the game by the scruff of the neck and battled hard for every ball showing character and team spirit that you rarely see in grown up football and never in the U8`s friendly league. Absolutely fantastic to watch and brilliant to be a part of I am sure you all will agree.
1st Half
The game wasn`t pretty by any means but it was obvious that the reds had a point to prove against a decent team that ground out a 2 -1 win against the Vipers last week. Much of the first half was end to end stuff with good breaks from both sides and some excellent tough defending at each end. The Super Blues Keeper was outstanding and pulled off some good saves to deny the Reds an early lead but the deadlock was eventually broken by a long rang strike from Rob who had spent time breaking down attacks using the `scare them with the hard sliding tackle` technique who caught it just nicely on his left foot from just inside the opponents half, the ball flew into the box losing momentum after the bounce and trickled through the keepers legs. Nutmeg and 1 – 0 to the mighty Reds.
Some fantastic defending from Lewis and Jordan followed hard tackling, thunderous clearances and frayed nerves for John and I, superb counter-attacking from the two Adams up the wings supported by Jack in the middle. All were firing shots like there was no tomorrow but the super blues defence played well and kept the shots out and them in the game.
Half Time
A quick team talk from John, not a lot to say really apart from `Fantastic` and `keep it up` - how can you find any points to improve on what was a spectacular first half performance from the Reds.
2nd Half
Taylor came on at the back to replace Lewis, a big act to follow after Lewis` excellent first half performance, but the brilliant Taylor put in a fantastic performance with Jordan and they won every ball,breaking down the attacks from the wings leaving the Super Blues frustrated. Well done guys keep it up.
As in the first half the team worked like Trojan`s, battling hard, closing down attacks dropping into positions to help there team mates out passing and moving the ball well in difficult muddy conditions and creating counter-attacking chances by the dozen, the super Blues came back strong and never stopped piling on pressure which was absorbed by our defence and turned into opportunities at the other end, one of these opportunities was taken by Adam Wardle, seizing on a loose ball in the penalty area and slotting it home with precision – He`s cool under pressure that lad, and never disappoints. 2 – 0 to the Reds.
All credit to the super blues today they, threw everything at us today including the kitchen sink but the Reds held on to a fine lead and won the match thanks to some spectacular 2nd half saves by the rock steady Alex in goal.
Summary
Gary phoned before, during and after the match and said he is very proud of you all.
Guys, that was definitely the best performance of the season so far. Everyone was absolutely superb, you showed courage, team spirit and determination. You all looked like you were really enjoying playing as a team and looking out for each other which is what football is all about, the winning is just a bonus. You should all be very proud of yourselves, We are all very proud of you.
Well done.
Johns Man of the Match – Robert Thompson
Jimmy`s Man of the Match – Adam Elstob
