PS Olympic U13 South 2 vs 5 Birmingham OJM

Another game where the boys continue to impress and improve. They stepped up, against the league leaders and took the game to them from the very first minute. We've spoken multiple times about making sure we start fast, don't give the opposition any encouragement and show our quality and we did that today.

This was a game against a physical, potentially intimidating opposition, but from the very first minute we harried, chased and matched them in every aspect of the game. A first half of 2 set pieces ended 1-1. Kieran found the absolute top of top bins with a wonderful strike after falling behind to an early penalty.

We could and should have had a penalty of our own when Kieran was clumsily brought down in the box before the break, also hitting the bar twice in this period. This wasn't a game where we were holding on, but a game where we were confident, defended and attacked well and looked a lot busier in midfield.

Second half mirrored the first, we had chances to score, but so did Birmingham. They scored a scrappy goal that could have gone anywhere and again, we were denied a pretty obvious penalty for a shove in the back, more of a steamroller through the back.

We kept it tight and had a few more promising attacks before we finally got caught on the counter when we were chasing the game.

A final word on the circus at the end. Our boys showed tremendous restraint and class to ignore the antics that followed and snuck in through the game as a whole. They were all disappointed with the result but, when they reflect on the performance, should be very proud of the way they handled themselves, on and off the pitch. I was more embarrassed for Birmingham all round, nobody wins the league in October and tough games are to come.

The fight we showed and the way we played must be the blueprint for the rest of the season.