Posted by robin on April 20, 2008, 9:06 pm
Oxford City Colts U11 Match Report
20th April 2008
Horspath 2 - Oxford City Colts 8
The first of three rearranged fixtures caused by the atrocious weather earlier in the season saw Colts travel the short distance to Horspath on a misty Sunday morning. With an unseasonably low temperature for late April, Coach Roger Cherry made sure the boys arrived early to warm up and prevent another slow start. With only 12 boys available some reshuffling was required which saw Joe Roberson and Curtis Adams start in defence with Liam Williams and Brian Muinami moving up into midfield.
Following Stuart’s warm up, Colts started the game at high speed catching Horspath cold after just two minutes. Grady Cherry arrived late in the penalty area to volley home a well-delivered corner from Tyler Walker. Horspath struggled to find their feet as Colts continued to dominate the early proceedings. Tyler was unlucky not to score with a sweetly timed strike flying just over the bar. However, Colts soon doubled their lead as Bradley Rowbotham ran strongly through the inside left position before slotting the ball into the corner of the net.
Most of the rest of the first period was played in the Horspath half with Colts creating a number of scoring chances. They looked particularly dangerous from set pieces with both Tyler and Curtis delivering dangerous balls into the penalty area. The Horspath keeper was constantly busy and did well to prevent Colts from adding to their lead. Brian Muinami was unlucky not to score; his well-timed shot striking the bar. But just before the break Colts scored again. A poor clearance from the Horspath defence allowed Bradley the opportunity to strike the ball high into the net from a narrow angle.
There was little for Roger to say at half time other than tell the boys to continue playing as they had done and not to become complacent; and for most of the second half this is exactly what they did. After just five minutes Colts scored again. Under pressure from the Colts’ attack following another excellent corner, Horspath failed to clear the ball which finally found its way into the net with the help of Grady. The visitors continued to dominate and Harvey Comely, now playing up front, was denied a goal when his shot hit the post. With such constant pressure another goal was inevitable and Colts went five up when Tyler struck the ball into the corner of the net. An unfortunate incident saw Colts’ next goal when a misunderstanding from a back pass saw Curtis chip the ball over the advancing keeper.
With a six-goal lead it was not surprising that Colts started to loose concentration. With the midfield pushing up to support the attack, Horspath found more space in the middle of the park and an accurate through ball allowed their centre forward to run through the middle of the Colts’ defence and slot the ball into the corner of the net. This set back made the Colts lift their game again and Brian was unlucky not to score when his well-struck shot forced an excellent full length diving save from the Horspath keeper. Harvey restored the six goal advantage forcing the ball past the unlucky keeper who failed to hold a difficult high ball into the box from Brian. To their credit Horspath continued to battle and scored a second goal in the last five minutes when Colts took far too long to clear ball from their own penalty area. Colts’ final goal came moments later when Bradley struck the ball home firmly following a blocked shot from the lively Daniel Dennis. In dying seconds Bradley was unlucky not to get yet another when his fierce shot struck the bar.
This was a comfortable victory for the boys, who started the game playing at a high tempo which they maintained for the majority of the match. Having struggled after slow starts in a number of previous matches, this performance is another encouraging sign that things are progressing well. Many thanks to Andy Bone for refereeing, to Clive for running the line and Sue for providing hot drinks on a cold morning.
Team: R Horwood, A Martin, H Comely, J Roberson, C Adams, B Muinami, G Cherry, L Williams, T Walker, D Dennis, B Rowbotham, subs J Russell
Man of the Match: 1st half H Comely 2nd half T Walker
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