Match Report - Under 9's, Hawkers, Sun 13th January 2008 at Hethersett
Published date - Wed 16/01/08

Hillside(A) 1 - 2 Hethersett
Hethersett 0 - 6 Thorpe Rovers
Thorpe Rovers 0 - 1 Hillside(A)

We played at Hethersett and first game was against Hethersett, second game was Hethersett vs. Thorpe Rovers and last game was HRFC vs. Thorpe Rovers.

My apologies if today’s match report is a bit disjointed.  I am writing it whilst travelling into London courtesy of One Railway which is a train to Ipswich, a coach to Marks Tey, a train to Stratford then the underground into London – what a lovely way to spend a Sunday evening!  At least it’s warmer on here than it was on the football field today!

Our first 2 matches of the New Year and we made the short journey to Hethersett after all meeting at the school.  Stupidly I suggested I would ‘lead’ and follow my sat nav and we only made one mistake on the way leaving the A47 to join the A146 and then back up the other side!!!  I will DEFINITELY not be suggesting I lead the way for future fixtures – promise!

It was a bitterly cold afternoon, dry but with a biting freezing wind.

The first match was HRFC versus Hethersett.  We beat Hethersett in our fixture earlier in the season and were hoping for a repeat performance.  The squad for game one was Matthew in goal, Marley (Captain) and James R in defence, James TJ in midfield, Connor and Brandon on the wings and Harry up front.  Subs in the first half were Matt C and Caleb. 

The game started very quickly with Hethersett putting us under pressure right from the kick off.  I am pleased to say that the parents were in fine form today with some words of encouragement for the squad.  Unfortunately, after just 2 minutes we had allowed Hethersett through to score and we were 1-0 down!  It was then all systems go but we could not pull our passes together and it showed we had not played as a team for a few weeks – we were paying for the Xmas break!!

James R then took a knock but was able to continue play and then James TJ took a shot on goal to try and help us back into the game – unfortunately it was blocked.

Then some beautiful football saw Harry who seemed intent on playing well today hammer the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-1.  Great goal Harry.  Was this to be the goal that we needed to get us back on form?

A tackle in the Area led to a penalty being awarded to Hethersett.  Matthew M was ready and they scored……….only for it to be disallowed by the referee as players had encroached the Area before the ball had been kicked!  So it was to be taken again – and this time Matthew M made a fantastic save and booted the ball up the field!  Well Done Matthew.

Matthew then made yet another fine save to keep the score at 1-1 – and that’s how the first half ended.

Substitutions were made and Connor was taken off and Matty C went on.

Unfortunately, soon after the break, Hethersett scored again to make it 2-1 as we could just not get the ball away from our Area.

James T-J then fell after being tackled and had to come off the pitch to be replaced by Caleb.

We battled and battled but could not find our way through.  Brandon took a shot which unfortunately went wide but that was our closest effort.

The game ended 2-1 and congratulations to Hethersett as it is their first win of the season.  And well deserved!

The second game was Thorpe Rovers versus Hethersett.  This game ended up 6-0 to Thorpe Rovers so we knew we were in for a tough second game!

Our final game then, and it saw us face Thorpe Rovers – again we beat them earlier in the season but watching them play Hethersett they really looked a quality side and we were going to have to do something special to beat them.

Substitutes in the first half were Brandon and Matt C.  It was even colder now – and the note taker taking the comments for this game must have had frost bite as there is not much for me to report.  So forgive me but this report is from memory and may have a bit of poetic license!!!

The squad were fired up and ready to play – and boy did they go out there meaning business.  They all wanted to win!

Straight away the ball was going backwards and forwards and Thorpe Rovers had us under pressure with the ball in our Area.  The defence – Marley & James R were having a blinder and just kept the ball out.  Matthew M was making some excellent saves and can really now kick that ball up the field – well Done Matthew.

A run from James and Harry saw Harry score a fantastic goal (that’s 2 goals today Harry) which saw us go 1-0 up.  I have never heard such screams of delight from Mum’s and Dad’s – you would have just thought we had won the Cup Final!

Some great football was being played by both sides.  It really was nail biting end to end stuff but all I can say is that we battled on and were not ready to give up.

Half time came and we were 1-0 up – would we be able to keep it that way or even score more goals?

We kicked off the second half and put Matthew and Brandon on and took Connor and Harry off.

Again it was still end to end stuff with the boys really getting ‘stuck in’ and winning the ball every time.  They were not going to give up without a fight.

Unfortunately Matty C took an injury as the ball hit him right in the face (and as cold as it was I think it really hurt) so was replaced by Connor again.

Marley and James again did some excellent defending keeping the ball away from goal.  James TJ ran his socks off (as always) and is such a physical player its great having him on the squad running the midfield.  Brandon showed us what he is capable of in the second half and Harry just had his eye on goal!

It was probably one of the longest 15 minutes of my life in that second half and we held on to the 1-0 win against Thorpe.

SUMMARY

Well if only we had played as well as we did in the second game against Hethersett.  It was nice of the coach from Hethersett to come and congratulate us on our win against Thorpe Rovers and to also say if we had played like that against them we would have probably won as well!

So – we know what we are capable of when we try – we need to do that EACH AND EVERY game from hereon in – for the rest of the season.

A good 2 points today.

Matthew M – just improves with every game.  A stunning penalty save and an even better save a bit later on – awesome goalkeeping Matthew. Well Done.

Marley – Did so well in the second game to keep Thorpe Rovers away from Goal – well done to our Captain.

James R – Played for the first time in defence today – and what stunning play it was.  James has such a hard and direct kick on him and seems to win every ball.  Well done today James and a VERY WELL DESERVED man of the Match today!

James TJ – Just runs his socks off all afternoon.  Never tires and is so not scared of making a tackle.  Took a knock but soon recovered.  Great play in second game James.

Brandon – Second game really got stuck in like we know he can.  Made some excellent moves and some cracking passes to Harry.

Caleb – So solid wherever he plays.  Again in the second game showed his true colours and played so well.

Connor – Well Done Connor – some great moves down the wings and thought you were going to score on a couple of occasions.  Great play today – could you see through your hat?

Matt C – Second game was excellent.  Getting stuck in and passing the ball.  Kicking it out of play when required.  Shame about the ‘ball in the face’ but well done for your efforts.

Harry – Well done today Harry.  A contender for Man of the Match with 2 great goals.  He has such an eye for goal and a pleasure to watch when he is on the form he was on today.  Well Done.

So all in all, 2 points for our win – meaning all teams took 2 points today.

Hopefully everyone has now thawed out and eaten their Dinners.

Just a shame Mandy thought it was at Hillside so stayed at home to do the Dinner (any excuse Mandy to stay out of the cold)

And also that Michele forgot to put her chicken in the oven before she left as she had planned!

Thanks to all for the support.

Oh just so proud of the boys today – a great win.  Well fought and well deserved.

Well done boys!

David Cox