11 Mar 2012 - Croft Juniors Red (H)

Date of Match: 11 March 2012 Team/Age Group: Under 12s Opponents: Croft Juniors (Home) Result: Draw 0-0 Scorer:

Barmy spring sunshine shone over Ballard's Ash as the Under 12s entertained Croft Juniors in their final home league game of the 2011/12 season. Prior to the game Croft were in second place in the league, a win today would greatly increase their chances of becoming champions.

From the first whistle both teams looked to play football, keeping the ball on the ground and looking to pass to a fellow team mate. Croft were the quickest to settle and showed why they were pushing for the title with some controlled midfield play and strong running down the flanks, if it were not for a well timed tackle by Jordan on 3 minutes they could have taken an early lead.

The shape of the game was clearly defined in these opening minutes Croft maintaining possession of the ball and continuing to pressure the Bassett goal. Important tackles by Harry and then Matthew once again stopped Croft getting a final shot in on goal. Bassett rode their luck on 6 minutes when a strong run down the Croft right ended in a low hard cross flying through the Bassett 6 yard box, no forward being able to get a foot on the ball.

Despite the pressure, Conor was only called upon to make his first save of the game on 8 minutes. Bassett's first shot of the game followed a minute later when Ollie, Zach and Callum combined, Callum's shot drifting wide of the left hand post. On 14 minutes Ed's courageous block stopped the Croft forward in his tracks, Matthew and George, then clearing the ball out of harms way.

Croft then got two chances in quick succession, the first being well saved by Conor down to his left. The second, a powerful shot from just inside the box going inches wide of the right hand post. On 23 minutes Croft produced the move of the match when they worked the ball from the back through midfield then the ball being played over Bassett's last defender. The Croft forward ran onto the ball and hit it on the volley, but Conor had advanced from his line to make a fine diving save.

As half time approached Bassett kept possession for a while and nearly sneaked a goal when Ed's long free kick was not cleared and Callum seized on the loose ball, his shot going over the bar. Half-time: 0-0

There was no change in the pattern of the game at the start of the second half as Croft continued to press forward and play confident football. Important headers by James cleared the danger on two occasions in the opening 5 minutes.

On 6 minutes Bassett created a chance when the ball was passed through the Croft midfield, Lewis controlling it and his back heel gave Brad a shooting chance which was unfortunately blocked by the alert Croft defender.

Croft created the next chance when they attacked down the right and passed the ball across the Bassett box where there was a spare man, Jordan making a brave block to stop the shot at the last moment. Bassett went straight back at Croft when Lewis ran onto Callum's through ball, Lewis's header looping over the on-coming keeper but bouncing narrowly wide of the left hand post.

“How much longer of this nail biting game is left?” came a cry from the touchline….. In fact there were 10 minutes and almost 4 minutes of added time in which Croft pressed and pressed on the Bassett goal.

As the nails got shorter and the seconds ticked away, Croft had 3 chances in quick succession to win the game. Firstly a one-on-one situation saw the Croft forward stab the ball past Conor but also inches wide of the left hand post. Then a dangerous cross was calmly collected by Conor and finally Ed timed his tackle to perfection and cleared the ball to safety.

With the 30 minutes well and truly up surely there was no time left for any further drama in this game. But Bassett somehow broke through the Croft midfield and put the Croft central defenders under pressure. The ball fell to Zach, “Shoot!” came the cry, rebound, it fell to Brad, “Shoot!” came the cry, rebound, it fell to Lewis, “Shoot!” came the cry, rebound and the ball went out of play as the referee finally blew for full time. Full-time: 0-0

Coach's Match Analysis: An inspirational performance by all 12 players once again showing the team spirit and togetherness that is within our squad. They worked amazingly hard for the whole game and the energy levels never waivered from the first whistle throughout the whole match. We also played some neat passing football versus a Croft team who deserve to be where they are in the league. Well done boys.

Player of the Match: Impossible to pick a POTM for today's game as every one of the 12 boys worked tirelessly to earn this draw and every one of the 12 boys played their part in such a wonderful team performance. Team: Conor Chivers, Edward Fish (Capt), James Evans, Harry Woodhouse, Matthew Nicholls, Jordan Langford, Callum Bridges, Lewis Ward, Zach Bunce, George Staten, Brad Sealey, Ollie Cameron

Postscript: Many thanks go to the players, coaches and supporters of Croft Juniors who today kindly presented a cheque for over £100 in aid of Wootton Bassett's chosen charity “Cancer Research”.

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