Match Report
Match Report - 04 Oct 2008, Wadhurst Junior Football Club Under 13's lost to Ridgeway
Oak – 1-1
The first half was by far the best performance we have seen Oak play and they were unlucky not to have been at least 4 goals up by half time.
The new structure of 2,2,2 suited the team well with Henry and Dan solid in midfield and using Luke and Kit Ross on the wings. Luke and Kit moved forward with great speed to deliver some great crosses. Dan and Henry also worked hard to stop any Ridgeway attacks getting through to Ed and Masha in defence. Oli had his first game in goal and proved to be a safe pair of hands.
Dan and Kit had a couple of great chances, but the goal finally came from a perfectly placed cross from Dan from the right side of the pitch and was scored by a fantastic left foot volley from Luke.
The second half saw Felix come on for Kit and Angus go in goal for Oli. The team were desperate to protect their lead and as a result all got back to defend. The downside of this is that the ball was in our half too much and a Ridgeway equaliser soon came.
Oak soon recovered their structure and started to show the play they did in the first half.
5-1
The score in the second match didn’t reflect the game as once again Oak were by far the better team. Tiredness started to creep in and the Ridgeway goals can from lapses in concentration and a couple of great shots which Oli and Angus couldn’t do anything about.
At 3-0 Wadhurst were awarded a free kick after Luke was brought down on one of his speed runs down the wing. Dan took a powerful free kick and Masha got onto the end of it to put the ball in the back of the net. After this Wadhurst took control of the match and we thought they could pull it back. Felix played a solid second half in defence with Ed which allowed Masha to play some great attacking football.
Man of the match – Dan, for his passing, crosses and corners. Luke for his great runs down the wing.
BEECH
First match: 0-4
Second match: 1-1
Beech worked very hard and kept their shape well in the first match with the score 0-0 at half-time. Ridgeway scored from the first move of the second half and then made the most of their chances, finishing clinically. Fred had little chance with any of the goals and the final score of 0-4 was somewhat flattering to our opponents. There were solid performances throughout the team – especially from our man of the match James Anstee who worked tirelessly in midfield.
Beech played equally as well in the second match and went in at half-time with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a neat left foot finish by James after great work down the left by Kit L-P. Ridgeway stepped up the pace in the second half but we battled and defended superbly only conceding a late equaliser to a superb goal. Toby still almost salvaged a win in the last minute but was thwarted by fine goalkeeping in a one on one. Man of this match was Harry Latham-Coyle showing great determination and no little skill in the midfield holding role.
Good performances by all on the day with a special mention to Joe who played in the second game despite being winded very badly in the first match. Fred, Sam and Ricky are forming a very solid defensive unit, Kit and Toby ran tirelessly up front and Joel proved himself to be capable of doing a job for the team in any number of positions. If we can convert more of our chances, we can give any team in this division a run for their money.
Ridgeway 9 - 3 Wadhurst Junior Football Club Under 13's