Sunday 21st February 2010 - Wroughton Youth 'A' (A)

On a bright and chilly morning we made the short journey to Wroughton with only 8 players available, due to Zach's knee injury and Lewis being on holiday.

We could have gone behind as early as the first minute when Conor made an excellent save with his legs following a Wroughton corner.

Then from our first attack we took the lead in the 2nd minute when a shot from Euan was well saved, only for Tyler to do what all good goalscorers do as he was in the right place to follow up and put the ball into the empty net.

As play went from end to end and chances came and went for both teams, we took a 2-0 lead on 8 minutes as Jordan Wright-Thompson won a 50-50 tackle and then smashed a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Our all-round play was very good and Tyler nearly scored again as a great 3 man move between him, Euan and Jordan W-T ended with his shot going just wide.

We looked very solid in defence with Jordan Taylor, Beckham and Alanah having good games against a very tricky forward line of Wroughton's.

The quality of both teams' corners was very good and it was only due to good defending and goalkeeping that there weren't any goals from them.

On 18 minutes we lost the ball on the half-way line and a driving run from Riegan Cook saw him evade 3 tackles before sliding the ball under Conor and into the net.

There were more chances in both goalmouths but the half closed out without anymore goals.

Half-Time 2-1

The second-half was even more open than the first as both teams strived for more goals and it was Tyler finishing from close range again 7 minutes into the half that restored our 2 goal lead.

Could we now play safe football and close out the game was a question that came back to haunt us, as instead of keeping our shape we allowed Wroughton back into the game, as we again lost the ball trying to overplay and Riegan Cook punished us again with a good finish.

We had a couple of chances following good corners from Callum and Tyler but the final touch was not there as first Tyler and then Jordan W-T were just wide of the mark.

Wroughton should have levelled the game twice as we were caught on the break form our corners and firstly Conor made a good save and then forced Riegan Cook wide of the goal.

Unfortunately we didn't learn from those mistakes and we were caught out from a simple throw in and Wroughton equalized with 5 minutes of the game left.

As the time ebbed away it looked like the match would end in a draw until in the last minute a silly foul on the edge of the box saw the resulting free-kick hit the bar and land at the feet of Riegan Cook, who scored the winner for Wroughton and complete a hard fought victory for his team.

There was just enough time for the kick off to be taken before the final whistle went to signal our first League defeat of the season.

Match Analysis: The defeat was very harsh on the players as they didn't deserve to lose this match, but as was said by the coaches at Shrivenham 2 weeks ago we have started to chase the game too much and as a result we are having to do much more running than we should be doing and the shape of the team is suffering as a result.

We've gone from a team that can score goals and concede very few to unfortunately conceding too many goals as a result of chasing the game to much. As a team we are using too much energy in the wrong areas of the pitch and forgetting about our defensive duties.

Whilst we should not forget that they are 9 and 10 year old players it's also important to remember that they do need to listen to the advice that the coaches are explaining to them, as it will help their development in the long term. It will also help them conserve their energy in matches which is the most important factor.

During the match we played as well as at anytime this season going forward, but we have to remember that defending as a team is also an important area that has to be adhered to.

Player of the Match: Euan Burke, who ran himself into the ground and made several good tackles and used the ball very well.

Match squad: Conor, Alanah, Jordan Taylor, Callum, Euan (Capt), Jordan Wright-Thompson, Tyler and Beckham.

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