With the muddy conditions causing some surprise results last weekend, we couldn’t be overconfident playing a team who, though scoring a lot of goals, were struggling to get wins.
The Wolves kicked off but Dylan was tackled and the Ospreys countered quickly only to be stopped in their tracks by a last ditch tackle from William. We were finding space out wide and Jacob made a good run down the right resulting in a shot from Dylan that was just wide. It was fairly even in the first few minutes with the Ospreys showing some good skills, a lot of strength and there were some tasty challenges. However the Wolves took the lead on 6 minutes with a well placed strike into the bottom corner from Dylan: 0-1
William was rock steady at the back and was distributing the ball much better today. He played a lovely long ball to Charlie whose shot was blocked and Ollie put it just wide on the rebound. The Ospreys then nearly scored from a corner which missed everyone but luckily for us hit the back post with Cole then saving well from the following shot. Some of the Wolves’ passing moves today were breathtaking and the second goal came in the 16th minute from a great move involving Charlie, Jacob and Dylan: 0-2
The Ospreys kept battling and won a couple of corners but the defensive line of William, Sam, Tom and Nathan kept them at bay with Cole dealing well with any long forward balls. The third goal came on the stroke of half time and again was a great quick-passing move. William picked out Ollie with a long pass and Ollie quickly played it to Jacob on the edge of the box whose shot went through the defence into the back of the net. 0-3
Half time: 0-3
The second half saw the Wolves push forward and both Ollie and Nathan had shots blocked before Jacob pounced on the loose ball and got it over the line for his second: 0-4
Three minutes later and Ollie got on the score sheet himself; Dylan made a break up the right wing and played in a well weighted cross for Ollie to fire home: 0-5
The Ospreys had a couple of half chances, one went over the bar and Cole saved well from a long range shot. Our defence were well on top and Tom stood out as he tackled strongly and also brought the ball forward to link up with midfield. Some more great interplay and a good pass from Sam lead to Dylan’s hat trick; a great shot into the bottom corner. 6-0
Dylan then put in another fine cross to Ollie who hit the side netting, and then twice put Charlie through for shots that were saved. Nathan covered back well, using his speed and determination to stop any Osprey’s breaks, however they did win a free kick on the edge of the box following a tired tackle from Sam. While the ref was fussing with the Wolves’ wall the Osprey’s giant striker was all over Cole, pushing him back into the goal and when the free kick came in he did very well to get a hand to the ball but it just trickled over the line. 1-6
A minute later and Ollie got his second with a well placed shot following some great passes from Nathan and Jacob. 7-1
As the game drew to a close Tom had a long range shot saved after a powerful surge up field and Dylan had a free kick hit the side netting.
Final score 7-1
Some of the passing today had the coaches purring on the sidelines, its fantastic to see the boys not only winning games but starting to play even better with vast improvements in reading the game and making the right decisions. Three players sharing the goals shows the progress we are making as a team and the distribution from the back is getting better every week.
We are approaching a trio of games against some of the best teams in the league in late January and early February. These will be a real test and we need to carry on playing like this if we want to end the season on top.
