Heathens Everywhere! Sunday 3^rd October 2004 ____________________________________________________________________

For the last time, Colt’s players were going to be helping the Juniors, so off went Andy with Sam B, Jamie G, Sam K, Josef & Jordan for a midday kick off that coincided with some rather heavy rainfall!

Game 1 - The line up was:

Jamie G

Jack Bailey Dan W Sam B

Josef Jordan

Sam K

Rolling Sub: Pat

The Heathens broke but a great tackle by Jack forced the ball out. This was quickly followed by a great header out of defence by Jack, he was going to have an interesting day! The Heathens then attacked down the left but were stopped by a great tackle by Sam B. He was however injured in the challenge and had to be carried off. Frys broke and Sam K had a top shot saved by their ‘keeper for corner. From the corner however Coalpit Heath then attacked and we were left outnumbered at the back giving Jamie no chance 1-0. They attacked again and Jamie made another great save, but in the process he got injured and so also had to come off.

By this time Sam B had been patched up and so he went in goal whilst Jamie received treatment. Next up and Dan made a great tackle to stop a Heathen attack. Sam K was brought down and got up to take the free kick. Unfortunately it was just wide. Jack then broke down the left side but the Heathens were able to stop him. A fast attack down the left-hand side earned Frys a corner. As with the first goal however, they broke quickly, and although Sam K raced back to put pressure on the attacker, he was unable to stop them scoring another 2-0.

HALF-TIME: COALPIT HEATH 2 FRYS 0

Jamie was back in goal for the second half having recovered enough to let Sam B back on the pitch! Pat broke early on in the half and hit a rasping shot, which forced a very brave stop by the Heathen ‘keeper. We kept up the pressure and this earned us a corner. We didn’t seem able to learn however and they got another break away. This time Sam K’s run back was not in vain and he came in with the saving tackle. Frys attacked again and Sam K was fouled again. From the free kick, Sam B ran past their defender but his shot was blocked for a corner. The Heathens attacked again but Sam K was there to stop them. From his hard, high pass out of defence, Jack lifted his leg to control the ball in the air, he let it bounce once and then hit an inch perfect lob over the ’keeper and into the back of the net 2-1.

For those of us who saw it there was a general consensus that we had seen an early contender for goal of the season! On top of that, it was the first goal to be scored for the Juniors, by a Junior player and Jack Bailey’s name entered the record book. The game was still going and some great defending by Frys led to a Heathens corner. The corner was taken and somehow managed to go straight in 3-1. Jack then was forced off injured, which ended his eventful day. The Heathens left us with one more sting in the tail as a late shot flew past Jamie’s outstretched hand and into the goal 4-1.

FULL-TIME : COALPIT HEATH 4 FRYS 1

Man of the Match – Chosen by Paul Harris for excellent play – Jack Bailey

Game 2 - The line up was:

Jamie G

James M Jack Burgoyne Gideon Stone

Haydn Callum M Matt Taylor

George Brown

Subs: Madison & Josh Hargreaves

From the kick of, the Heathens stormed forwards in numbers and with their first attack scored 1-0. They kept up the pressure but Jack defended well and got the ball to Haydn. He and George then broke well but were crowded out near the Heathens goal. They broke again but an alert Jamie was quickly down at the attacker’s feet to make a good save. Another attack and again Jamie was quickly out to stop a certain goal. James was fouled and got up to take the free kick. Unfortunately they were back in numbers and the attack broke down. They piled forwards again and with our players struggling to get back, they made it two, 2-0.

Next it needed Josh to be at his best as he made a great tackle. They kept up the pressure and forced a fantastic save out of Jamie, which was followed by some great defending, but we couldn’t stop the third going in 3-0. Josh again was on hand with a strong tackle to stop the relentless attack. From another shot, James blocked well and the resulting shot Jamie saved. Next it was the turn of Gideon to stop them and Jack was on hand to mop up the pieces. George went on a mazy run forwards but Coalpit Heath outnumbered him and cleared the ball. Haydn & George both then attacked and were unlucky not to score as both put in great shots. Just before half time the Heathens broke away again 4-0.

HALF-TIME: COALPIT HEATH 4 FRYS 0

We were under pressure from the start of the second half and left Callum on own at the back. Fortunately it was Callum and he made a brilliant stop whilst outnumbered. We then attacked and Madison shot just wide. Callum then put in a good tackle, which was followed with a sliding tackle from Josh as Coalpit heath attacked down our left-hand side. The next time however there was no stopping them as a Heathen player shot from the left hand side and beat Jamie into the top right 5-0. We were not subdued however and Callum’s shot was deflected for a corner. From the corner it came back to Callum and this time his shot was blocked. From this however the Heathens broke and the shot hit the post, came back out and they were following up to score the goal 6-0. Almost from the kick we lost the ball and they made no mistake 7-0. It then needed a good clearance from Matty T to stop the heathen attack but it went for a corner. From the corner they wrapped up the game 8-0.

FULL-TIME : COALPIT HEATH 8 FRYS 0

Man of the Match – Chosen by Mr Taylor for excellent play – George Brown

OVERALL RESULT : COALPIT HEATH 12 FRYS 1

Afterthoughts………………………………………………………………

The weather just didn’t help proceedings. That said, the boy’s heads didn’t once drop and nobody heard any complaints. In spite of the result this was still a pleasure to watch, made even more so by the boy’s attitude. Added to that, Jack’s goal really was a scorcher. This was the last game in which the Colts helped out the Juniors, and although results didn’t go our way, we still saw some flashes of inspiration, and, with almost every player from the Colts playing at least once for the Juniors, it also helped to promote a good team spirit across the whole of the Under 8’s. Good luck to the Juniors!