Sunday 14th December 2008 - Greenmeadow 'A' (H)

After a two week break, the A Team started this match against Greenmeadow with a slightly different formation. From the off, both teams looked to play passing football and produced some very neat interchanges of play. The first chance of the game came when Euan and Lewis linked well and some quick foot work from Euan enabled him to get in a good shot which the Greenmeadow keeper pushed away for a corner. From the corner, Callum seized on a loose ball on the edge of the area and his shot went just wide.

Greenmeadow came straight back at Bassett and they went into the lead, in the 4th minute following a strong run down the right by Oliver Marshall, whose low hard shot was deflected into the roof of the Bassett net to make it 0-1 Greenmeadow.

Soon after Greenmeadow produced a fine passing move but unfortunately for them the final shot just drifted wide. Bassett weren't to be out played and on the next attack, accurate passing between Euan, Tyler, Lewis and Harrison presented Lewis with a chance to shoot which was again well saved by the Greenmeadow keeper. Euan took the resulting corner and Bassett drew level as the ball squeezed into the net between defender and front post.

Bassett continued to pressurise and a minute later Lewis found Euan in space on the right edge of the Greenmeadow box, Euan chipped the ball over the advancing keeper and with the ball heading towards the goal, Tyler followed up to score Bassett's second.

The team was playing exceptionally well and putting on a great show. Conor was alert in goal, Alanah and Jordan were strong and organised in defence, Harrison and Ryosuke were winning every tackle in midfield and Euan, Callum, Tyler and Lewis were causing the Greenmeadow defence and keeper problems with every attack. Bassett were playing as a team, calling to each other, working for each other and passing accurately to each other.

On 15 minutes Greenmeadow almost got back in the game when a good pass put their forward through 1-on-1 with Conor, who came off his line to make a great save. From the resulting goal kick, Euan picked up the ball in midfield, passed to Ryosuke, who found Tyler on the edge of the Greenmeadow box. Tyler turned and shot in one movement to make it 3-1 Bassett.

On 17 minutes Bassett scored their 4th goal. A Tyler corner was floated into the area and Ryosuke swooped down low to head the ball into the Greenmeadow goal.

As half time approached, Bassett were awarded a free kick just inside the Greenmeadow half. Jordan came up from defence and struck the ball into the Greenmeadow box where Ryosuke met it on the full and did an excellent back header to score his second goal.

Half Time: 5-1

Bassett started the second half as they ended the first. In the first minute, Callum crossed from the left and Harrison controlled the ball instantly and scored with a low shot into the corner of the net.

The pressure on the Greenmeadow defence mounted as Bassett continued to play flowing football. Four minutes into the second half Harrison won the ball in midfield, he passed it out left to Tyler, who picked up the ball and passed it back to Callum. Callum took one touch and then his cross/shot was deflected past the Greenmeadow keeper.

Although Bassett had most of the play, Greenmeadow never stopped trying to play football. On 8 minutes they broke through the Bassett midfield and a good long range shot was confidently saved by an ever watchful Conor.

Bassett won another corner on 11 minutes. As in the first half Euan's kick was swirled into the box and ended up in the back of the net, squeezing through defender and front post.

On 19 minutes, Callum took the ball from midfield and had a good shot saved by the keeper, the defender's clearance went straight back to Callum who had another shot. This time the ball hit the post and bounced back to Tyler who slotted the ball home for his hatrick and Bassett's 9th.

A minute later, Greenmeadow broke down the right with a strong run and shot. Conor managed to parry the shot but the ball bounced out to Jordan Hyde who knocked the ball into the net before a Bassett defender could clear.

Match Analysis: This was probably the team's best performance so far of this very impressive season. The team played football all game, the quality of passing was excellent, the tackling was outstanding and the willingness to work for each other immense. It was great to hear the team talking to each other and really wanting the ball. The match was a pleasure to watch, played in the right spirit and was a great advert for youth football.

Player of the Match: All nine players could have won today's award, everyone contributed to this game and it is tough to single just one person out but today's award was given to Harrison Russ. In the last minute of the game, Greenmeadow had a fast break when a Bassett attack broke down. Harrison tracked back and made a superbly timed tackle on the edge of his own box. This typified the energy and effort Harrison put into this game.

Last modified on Monday 22nd June 2015 at 23:39