Colts Victorious – Manager Happy!!! 01/09/03
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This was history in the
making. Our first ever match and we were
at home, on a beautiful Sunday morning.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the Colts were
playing. Portishead had had a few drop
out and only came with nine players, meaning they would have to play
twice. We decided to play 8 a side.
The Home Team played first -
The line up was:
Aaron Sutton
Jack Yeoman
Jordan Harris Ethan Chilcott Oscar Hutchings
Max Stevens Sam Kipling
Rolling Subs: George Lewis,
James Baker
They kicked off and for a
while, it was all about players finding their feet in terms of finally playing
a proper opposition. But even in the
first five minutes there were promising moments of general play. Jack in particular was looking to pass the
ball around and not just run head down.
Sam and Ethan were also looking to get down the wings and attack the
goals when they could
After 10 minutes our first
real chance as Sam sped down the right wing and had a shot that was just wide
of the upright. After 12 minutes, another run, this time down the left wing by
Max led to the ball crossing into the middle and a general melee on the penalty
spot as the ball ricocheted around without being cleared. Out of nowhere came a boot from the crowd and
the ball nestled in the bottom left hand corner, 1-0. So who had been the
history maker? Jordan, who had showed no fear in the box, got the vital touch!
At that point, Dan & Max
came off and James and George took their places. We started to exert a bit of control over the
game, although their number 7 was a real handful. James and Jack ensured that he had short shrift
in front of goal. With half-time
beckoning Sam scored to make it 2-0 and that was how it stayed.
For the second half Jack & Jordan came off and
Max & Dan returned to the pitch.
After 22 minutes a good save by Aaron kept us two up. Oscar and Dan made sure that Portishead did
not get the upper hand in midfield but then we all decided that we wanted to
score and that Aaron could cope!
After 27 minutes and good goalkeeping by Aaron
again kept us in front as he blocked with his body. Then, with three attacking two he came out
and cleared with his feet. Sam &
Oscar came off for the final change and Jack &
George did some good defending, which allowed Aaron
to get his foot to the ball. It wasn’t
cleared however and Aaron then dived in with feet flying around him to make a
brilliant save.
The Away Team played second
and Portishead elected to use all nine players - The line up was:
Jamie Godwin
Charlie Glavin Zac Hallett
Joe Carreyett
Mark Gratton Sam Burgess
Josef Hill
Luke Andrews Sam Pike
We kicked off and straight
away there was a free kick to Portishead, but the shot was comfortably picked
up by Jamie. A few minutes later and
there was good defending by Zac and Mark.
A good run up the wing by Sam Pike was followed by a pass inside but we
failed to capitalise.
After five minutes, a shot
was hit into the box and it was diverted goal-wards by Joe 1-0, and his
celebrations took him back down to our corner flag. Good tackling by Mark in the box broke down a
Portishead attack and then there was a save by Jamie with his feet.
Jamie
took a good kick which sent the ball over the halfway line and this was
followed by a good tackle by Charlie. A
good run by Joe up the left wing took him into the box but his shot was just
wide of the left post. Portishead
attacked down our flanks but were stopped by a strong tackle by Zac. We attacked and had a corner taken by Joe,
followed by a corner taken by Zac.
Portishead broke but were stopped by Sam Pike’s strong tackle.
For the second half there was a good run from
Mark. Portishead had a shot but it was
saved by Jamie. Josef was then in the
thick of the action stopping them getting through. Zac fouled a player on the edge of the box
and there was a free kick to Portishead, which they failed to capitalise on.
There were then two run & shots from Sam
Burgess but both failed to trouble the ‘keeper.
Back down our end and a strong clearance by Charlie. We had a melee in our box and the ball was stabbed through Jamie’s legs and
inches wide of the right hand post. Luke
then just failed to get on end of a big clearance by Jamie and soon after the
ref’ blew for full time.
Nice
reffing from Tom and Jack even if Tom took a lot of persuading! We could have easily lost the first game by 5
or 6 but for Aaron’s heroics and so we will have to start learning
positions. There were a few fouls in the
second game so timing of tackling will also be worked on.
That said,
it was an excellent game, very enjoyable to watch and we got the result that we
wanted. The boys acquitted themselves
admirably and for their first game, at times looked remarkably composed and
relaxed.