After last weeks hard fought victory we travelled to last years finalists and runners up Wilmslow Town Cougars for a crucial match in the chase to reach the U10's Group A final at Trafford FC on the 15th May. With them losing, surprisingly, against Urmston last week, it meant that 4 teams, ourselves, Altrincham, Urmston and Wilmslow are chasing the ultimate prize and with a win we could almost secure our place in the final.
The pitch was a little heavy in places, drainage issue, and the surface, with it drying out, was bumpy in others. The wind was blowing down the pitch and we played with it at our backs. Unfortunately, Max had broken his thumb so was unable to play, so we started with just Thomas Da and Pearse on the bench.
From the first whistle our boys, aware of the prize at stake, dominated in all areas, we closed them down superbly when they tried to play from the back and when we won the ball our passing and movement was excellent. Daniel and the two boys at the back, Thomas M and Thomas Dy, mopped up anything that got through our midfield and their distribution into wide areas and Flynn up front was very good. Nathan, Ryan and the Captain, Thomas H, controlled the midfield and some of the one and two touch football was a pleasure to watch. We could and should have been a couple of goals in front, with Flynn, Nathan and Thomas H having good chances only to be foiled by poor finishing or superb saves from their keeper, who had a magnificent game throughout. One save in particulat from a fabulous volleyed scissor kick from Flynn after a wonderful ball from Thomas M was quite frankly unbelieveable !!!!! Wilmslow, who are a good side, started to get a foothold in the game as they decided to go longer with their passing. It was tight for the remainder of the first half, with Daniel making one superb save from a fantastic long range shot and Flynn again being stopped by their keeper who bravely dove at his feet when he was about to shoot. The first half ended 0-0.
We praised the boys for their effort, commitment and movement. We encouraged them to have a little more composure in key areas of the pitch and the goal will come. We again started on the front foot and created half chances for Pearse, Nathan and Thomas H. from which unfortunately we didnt manage to score. Wilmslow again started to grow into the half and thanks to excellent positioning from Daniel who raced out to clear when needed and Thomas M and Thomas Dy staying strong and reading the danger signs we kept them to long range efforts which we dealt with comfortably. While at 0-0 we had two fabulous opportunities to take the lead when after a superb cross from Nathan, Thomas Da timed his run at the back post only to mis-time his header back into an open goal and then after great work by Ryan in the middle of the park he put Thomas H through who shot wide of the target.
Just when we thought it was going to end in stalemate our ace goal poacher, Flynn, was on hand in the box to finish when their keeper was unable to hold a beautiful driven ball from Thomas H. It was no more than the boys deserved and they certainly celebrated it !! With 10mins left Wilmslow were obviously going to go for broke but our boys kept their shape and structure and indeed could have added to the scoreline on the break with excellent chances for Pearse, Flynn and Nathan, who hit the crossbar with a shot come cross. The delight was clear to see when the referee, who had an excellent game, blew the final whistle to confirm our 1-0 victory.
The experienced referee was very complimentary on the football played by both teams and felt that we had deserved our victory, as did their Management Team. The boys had put everything in today, their attitude, desire, concentration and willingness to help their mates was a joy to watch. This enabled them to play some fantastic football at times and a victory was fully justified. Every player put in a shift today and each person received a massive pat on the back, but we awarded two boys the joint Man of the Match, firstly, for the second week running Thomas M for his commanding, composed and assured performance at the back and Ryan for his positional discipline, superb ball winning and his excellent range of one and two touch passing.
Our next game is the return fixture against Wilmslow on the 2nd April when if we avoid defeat our place in the final is assured.
