Following on from our cup win last week we played host to 3rd place Winwick who came to us fully expecting to win today. We reverted back to our familiar 2-2-2 formation and rewarded Jyoti and Thomas with starting positions due to their brilliant efforts in training. On kick off Winwick came at us very quickly and caught us napping a little in midfield but they clearly hadn't reckoned on Alex and Dominic who formed a tremendous defensive partnership for the first 10 minutes of the game. Dominic was incrediblly strong and muscled the opposition off the ball at every opportunity and Alex was his usually consistent self, chasing every ball down and playing very safely for his team mates.
When we pushed the ball forward we looked very positive and saw some great team play and good passing from each of our players. Jacob was ever powerful with his long throws which enabled us to slip behind the defense on a number of occasions and Thomas growing ever more confident with his footwork pushed the ball up the field and away from the oppostion. We were a little slow to react at times in the midfield however and a tremendous save from Jako kept us in the game after 5 minutes.
We brought Ethan and Hollie onto the pitch after around 9 minutes and they settled quickly into the game, with Ethan showing brilliant footwork and tackling skills and Hollie back to her pocket rocket status, speeding around the pitch with the ball at her feet and showing Winwick they should definitely not be underestimating her stature. Jyoti had a quiet but confident game and was strong on the ball when he needed to be and after taking a good throw-in put in a lovely ball through to Jake who performed a simple tap-in to put us in the lead after 10 minutes.
We changed the strikers round shortly afterwards to bring the ever powerful Katie onto the pitch and to allow Dylan to experience his first match and neither of them disappointed us. Dylan showed Winwick his heels on a number of occasions as he sped past them but just wasn't able to get the final touch he needed and Katie once again showed incredible resilience in dribbling the ball forward and round the oppostiion time after time. Kyle also joined his team mates on the pitch to give Alex a break from his incredible work rate and to link up at the back with Dominic and again this partnership also didn't disappoint. Kyle has also become a very consistent player, putting in a very good work rate and performing some outstanding tackles to keep the opposition away from his goal line. The half time score stood at 1-0 to Sutton.
The second part of the game saw much of the same with open play being fairly even throughout the half, both teams slipping up a little at times and allowing the opposition in towards goal, with excellent defensive efforts by both sides. Jake was very unlucky not to gain another goal about midway through the half when his shot hit the keeper in the stomach. The players were rotated regularly to try to allow everyone a fair amount of time on the pitch and despite a few pointers for us to work on in training, no-one actually had a bad game. About 5 minutes from time Winwick managed to launch an unstoppable shot from outside our area which sailed over Jako's head and into the goal making everything even once again. The game livened up a little again after that and we had to fight to keep them away from our goal, with Jako making a couple of crucial stops to prevent them from scoring. A minute from time Winwick were awarded a free kick from just outside our area and despite their attacker from trying his best to get in Jako's way and put him off, his reactions were incredible and he once again stopped the ball from entering his net.
We never let our heads go down and we were still attacking to the final whistle with the score standing at 1-1. Man of the match today went to Dominic for an unbelievably strong performance but this could have easily also gone to a number of our players including Jako for a top game. Winwick went away disappointed with the draw which on reflection was actually a fair result for a pretty even game.
Thanks to Winwick for a good game and sportsmanship and again to all our players and parents whose support and efforts makes it all worthwhile.
