Thrapston Town Wolves 4 vs 0 Corby Warriors Samurais

<p>Today was a huge match for us. The Samurais were unbeaten in the league this season and were one place above us in the table in third. They were also one of the<br />two teams that had beaten us last season. On top of that both our regular defenders were unavailable to play leaving us with no subs but giving Charlie his first<br />opportunity to play the full 40 minutes.<br />It was bitterly cold at North Park and a strong cross wind was going to make conditions tricky. The Samurais won the toss and opted for kick off so Dylan chose to<br />play the first half up hill.<br />As they kicked off Dylan pounced on the ball and ripped through the Samurais&rsquo; midfield and defence into the area. His powerful shot was blocked well by the<br />keeper but as usual Jacob had followed up and hit the loose ball into the back of the net: 0-1 after less than a minute.<br />The Samurais were soon putting pressure on our defence but with Nathan as a great last man, ably supported by Sam and Ollie in defensive midfield roles, they<br />couldn&rsquo;t get through to threaten the Wolves&rsquo; goal. Charlie was positioned in central midfield and got two good passes into the Samurais&rsquo; penalty area which led to a<br />Wolves corner. The defence found it difficult to mark Jacob and Charlie&rsquo;s movement in the box and when Dylan fired in a hard, low ball Jacob was at the back post<br />to wallop in his second with his left foot: 0-2 after just 3 minutes of play.<br />The rest of the half was played at a furious pace. The Samurais rarely broke through our defensive line of Sam, Nathan and Ollie and when they did Cole made a<br />couple of good saves.<br />Half Time: 0-2<br />Playing downhill in the second half saw the Wolves dominate possession. Dylan and Jacob had a couple of chances go wide following some good passing from<br />Charlie and Ollie. When the Samurais did get the ball they couldn&rsquo;t get past Ollie and Sam and for long periods Cole and Nathan had very little to do. The Wolves<br />won a couple of free kicks as the Samurais became frustrated but with the wind blowing hard across the pitch Dylan&rsquo;s efforts couldn&rsquo;t trouble the Samurai&rsquo;s GK.<br />Midway through the half the Samurais did get clear a couple of times. The first time, with Cole beaten and an open goal at their mercy, the shot went wide but the<br />second time Cole came out quickly and hoofed the ball clear. As the Samurais tried to get forward again Nathan won an important tackle and picked Dylan out on the<br />wing with a super, pin point pass. With space in front of him, Dylan charged into the area and placed his shot calmly past the floundering Samurais GK for a well<br />deserved goal: 0-3<br />Five minutes later the Wolves won another free kick just inside the Samurais half. Instead of blasting his shot, Dylan played a great ball into Jacob who turned and<br />shot. The &lsquo;keeper just kept it out and after a scuffle for the ball Charlie pushed it over the line for his second of the season: 0-4<br />With no substitutes the Wolves began to tire in the last 10 minutes of the game and the Samurais gained the upper hand with possession. Cole made several great<br />saves and the whole team worked magnificently in protecting their clean sheet with some great defending. At last the whistle went and the boys could have a well<br />earned breather after such a determined and battling performance.<br />Final score: 0-4<br />This was a superb win against a very good side. The defence was unforgiving and distributed the ball well. The decision making and passing up front was everything<br />we could ask for &ndash; well done to all the boys, a great team effort!!