Welcome to 2021 to all of you and for those in attendance I'm sure you'll agree it was a great match played by two excellent teams.
Quarter 1 was a pleasure to watch and the passing game played by the Panthers was nothing short of world class. Although possession was controlled few chances were created as DAVIE found it difficult against some great Starcross defending. It was the visitors that took the lead after an unlucky TUCKETT saw a great save parried to the opposition striker who made it 1-0. FLAVIN and BARNETT once again were awesome at the back and played some lovely passes into our midfield however the Pinks still struggled to create.
Quarter 2 was a little disjointed and saw 4 changes too, ALEXANDER and LEE were the foundation of this quarter and kept a well deserved clean sheet as a defensive pair. Our passing was still good but without causing the opposition problems. BASSETT was carving out chances where possible and the link ups with KEYTE and SHABYTAH were starting to work. Still neither keeper had much to do as the game largely played out in midfield.
Quarter 3 was in fairness a strong one for Starcross and although MAY was barking orders as the true leader he is he could get his team close enough to block a rocket finding the top bin which passed a helpless TUCKETT in the Panthers goal. HOLLAND was putting in a real shift as we come to expect from him which looked to help us steady the ship however an unfortunate deflection from MAY made the score 3-0.
Quarter 4
At 3-0 down many teams at U10 would have given up, accepted defeat and most importantly changed the style of play. Needless to say the mighty Pinks put on a sparkling display and It made me so proud of what these lads can achieve with the right attitude. A tactical change (had to get this in the report ??) meant the Panthers played 2 strikers and only 1 defender for the first time ever in a match! The first goal well taken by BASSETT on his left foot gave the Pinks a massive boost, DAVIE then saw a long range effort beat the keeper to bring it back to 3-2. It was now all Panthers and on the rare occasion Starcross attacked the 1 man brick wall LUCAS LEE stood tall and kept them out! An excellent strike from ALEXANDER deserved a goal but an outstanding save saw the score stay 3-2. Another attack created space for KEYTE who swung his right boot at the ball and sent all the spectators into complete silence as the ball flew goal bound. With the help of the post the score was now 3-3!
Chances to win the game but a well deserved draw for both teams ended a great morning of grassroots footy.
Well done lads
STAR MEN
LUCA BASSETT showed real class in possession, neat touches and creative flair unlocked the defence on many occasions all morning. Moved to striker for the last 15 mins and grabbed a goal too which started the comeback.
LUCAS LEE
Speed, composure, vision and workrate all on show from this very talented young lad. Held the defence together single handedly in the last quarter and his pass completion rate was almost perfect.
