It could so easily have been a case of 'After the Lord Mayor's Show' with the sun shining, our goalkeeper absent giving a young lady away at her wedding and the league title already wrapped up. I arrived at Claypole with the thought that the boys would have half an eye on the cup final in 9 days but I should know better with this bunch of lads. It turned out that, after Martin had done his team talk, they were as fired up as in any game this season.
Every boy played their part in a magnificent victory today. As it was the last game of the season, we decided to give some of the boys a run-out in unfamiliar positions and they all adapted brilliantly. The entire team gets a massive 9.5 score out of 10. Xander and Max played half the game each in goal and both acquitted themselves really well - Max could do nothing about the goals, particularly the penalty.
The goals were shared by 5 players and all were great goals. I can't remember how each one was scored - there were so many - but the scorers and their times have been logged. Max had a hat-trick inside the first 12 minutes. James Scott scored 5, saving most of his for the end of the game, with 4 in the last 6 minutes! Max got his 4th on the half hour mark and Tom blasted 4 goals in as well. The two that stand out in my memory, though, came from Jake and Dylan. Jake's tenacity and refusal to give up gave him a goal that his forays down the wing deserved. Dylan was clearly very frustrated at being off the pitch for the start of the second half and when he was put back on in the heart of midfield, within 5 minutes he had the goal that his determination warranted.
At one point, Ben managed a drag back in midfield before putting in a perfectly weighted ball into the box. Archie put in tackle after tackle in the first half and was never phased by the changing of his defensive partners. He later swapped with Ben and did a great job with different responsibilities (as did Ben). James Wilson was here, there and everywher and set up a lot of attacks. Everybody tackled well, closed players down quickly and kept moving into space to open up the opportunities for their team mates. All in all, a superb performance.
Credit must go to Claypole. Their players made a very generous gesture at the start of the game with their guard of honour. When they started the second half, they were 8-0 down and could have just crumbled. They didn't. One great goal gave them heart and they followed it with 2 more. They certainly weren't letting us go away from Claypole without putting up a good fight.
The icing on the cake came after the game, when an FA assessor made his presence known. He had been watching to see that both teams complied with the FA Respect charter. He will produce a report in due course, but he did tell me that it would be a good one, particularly mentioning the sporting attitude of the boys, the way everyone gets their chance on the pitch and the attitude of the parents, applauding and encouraging Claypole players. We should never forget that everyone who turns up to matches, whether on or off the pitch, is part of the Farndon team.
Back to training at Farndon this Thursday. One more game to go!
