The Year 4 boys were sent up to Percy Fields to play with the big lads today as the Scorchers hosted local rivals Knaresborough Celtic in this end of season ‘friendly’ match. With the sun beating down on a glorious spring day Craig had a small squad to choose from, and in the first game went for Cameron in goal and an outfield of Tom, Ben, Sam, Ewan, George and Owen with Jack starting on the bench.
The game kicked off with the visitors applying immediate pressure, Tom managed to break up play in midfield supported by Owen and was able to launch an early attack after some good interlinking with Ewan, a foul on George resulted in a few exchanged words which the ref deemed serious enough to threaten Tom with an early bath. The Scorchers were on the back foot again with the visitors forcing a succession of corners which was cleared; Sam did particularly well with a strong defensive tackle to clear the danger.
There was no respite from Celtic and an excellent shot came which cracked the home sides cross bar and was saved by Cameron as it dropped towards the goal. The home side were struggling to get the ball out of their own half, but Ewan and Sam combined well to clear any danger. Ewan then did well to head the ball away after another Knaresborough attack. As the half time whistle approached Tom and Ewan did well to create an opportunity with Ewan getting in a shot which went just wide, whilst Cameron saved well from another Celtic breakaway. HT 0-0
The second half started the same as the first, Celtic pressing for a goal and Scorchers defending resolutely with good play from George and Ben. The home side were then awarded a free kick after a foul on the right wing. Tom took command of the situation, firing in an excellent shot from 15 yards which smacked the post and was scrambled away to safety. This was the first real chance Scotton had carved out, but Celtic were to score the decisive goal soon after, George seemed to be fouled close to the Celtic penalty area, however whilst he lay on the ground apparently injured the referee decided to let play continue and the visitors broke away and slotted the ball home to make it 1-0. Celtic came straight back at the Scotton defence, a shot fired in was heading goal wards until Tom got his head to it and cleared it off the line.
As the full time whistle approached Tom and Ewan again tried to get into the visitors box with some good passing and movement. Jack then came on for Owen as Cameron saved again from a Celtic shot. Tom and Ewan then played the ball away from danger with Jack getting stuck in with some strong tackling in midfield whilst Ewan tried his luck with a shot which went just wide and soon after the full time was blown and Celtic had won 1-0, on the balance of play just about a fair result with Celtic making the ‘extra’ man count.
So on to game two and whilst the visitors had the opportunity of choosing a new team Craig had no such luxury and selected the same side, apart from Jack starting in place of Owen and George went in goal.
Scotton started the brighter, Tom and Ewan combining well; Ewan turned well and got in a shot that went just wide. This seemed to wake up the visitors who then went on the attack, and a shot came in which the ref decided had gone over the line. 1-0 to the visitors and within a minute Celtic had created another chance and there was no doubt this time, 2-0 to Celtic and the Scorchers were starting to feel the heat. Celtic continued to take the game to Scotton but the home side held firm with some good defensive tackles particularly from Jack. Some good defensive work from Ben and Sam led to a corner which was fired in and George saved well, tipping the ball away, this was followed by another chance that George saved comfortably. As half time +5 minutes approached; Tom and Ewan managed to force a couple of corners which were scrambled away by Celtic. H-T 2-0 to Celtic
Craig made a couple of changes at HT, Ben went into goal in place of George and Owen came on for Jack. Knaresborough picked up the pace in the second half, a shot coming which seemed to just cross the line was awarded as a goal by the ref to make it 3-0, with the fourth and fifth arriving soon after. At this point both visiting coach and referee sensed a cricket score was on the cards but the home side held firm. A rare Scotton break resulted in a free kick which George took, firing just wide of the Celtic goal. Scotton then forced a couple of corners, the second one led to a foul five yards in from the corner flag. Tom, in ‘Ronaldo’ style steadied himself and fired in a shot which flew into the top corner, just reward for the team's efforts, 5-1 to the visitors and the home side had time to create another couple of chances before the whistle went to signal the end of the game; 5-1 to the visitors but Scotton can hold their heads up high after having to play two games back to back in the warm weather.
