With the season in full flow, matches are coming thick and fast. For the second week running the under 9’s have the opportunity to get some more valuable game time under their belts thanks to Darren and the coaches who arranged a friendly match with Boroughbridge.
Craig and John split the squad into two teams so everyone had the opportunity to get a full match; the first game started with Cameron in goal and an outfield of Liam, Ewan, Danny, Elliott, Chris, James and Oscar with Owen starting on the bench.
Boroughbridge started well, putting the Scotton defence under some early pressure with a corner which was well cleared, Danny picked up the ball and found Ewan on the right wing whose determined run won the home side a corner, the subsequent cross was well dealt with by the visiting defence and they quickly counter attacked, the resultant shot just going wide. Straight away Boroughbridge picked up the ball from the clearance and Cameron saved well from a speculative shot. Boroughbridge continued to attack and another shot came in from the right which was well saved by Cameron but fell to a Boroughbridge attacker who placed the ball in the net, 1-0 to the visitors.
The visitors continued to press in Scotton’s half, first a shot went just wide and then Scotton’s defence only managed to clear a ball to the edge of the box and Boroughbridge scored again with a well taken shot. 2-0 to the visitors.
The second goal woke the home side up and Ewan again used his strength to get down the right wing whilst Liam tried the same down the left; Danny was getting more and more into the game in midfield, interchanging well with Ewan but the visiting defence was well organised and chances were few and far between. Defensively Scotton were now more organised with Oscar showing some good awareness to stop a Boroughbridge break whilst Elliott, Chris and James were all working hard to stop the visitor’s midfield and attacking play.
At half time the score remained 2-0 and Craig and John decided to make a couple of changes, Max replaced Danny and took the goalie gloves off Cameron who went up front, Tom replaced James and Owen came on for Liam.
Scotton started the second half on the front foot, Owen did well to find Tom down the left as the home side launched an attack, and a throw in near the corner flag was played in by Ewan to Tom whose shot went just wide. Boroughbridge continued to look dangerous on the break, Chris got in a fine tackle to stop a goal scoring opportunity and Elliott cleared up and put the ball into touch. Max then made a good save from the resultant throw in, getting down well to block the shot; a quick clearance found Tom down the left and he skipped past one defender before shooting just wide.
Scotton continued to press and won a couple of quick corners, the second one was whipped in by Tom from the left and caught the keeper by surprise and went straight in the back of the net, 1-2 and Scotton were back in the game. Max was called on to make another good save as the visitors tried to hit Scotton on the break but more and more of the play was taking place in the visitors half, Ewan supplying Tom with some ammunition to let fly with a shot that was put out for a corner, a succession of corners followed on the right with Tom and Ewan taking turns to get them in the box, Tom saw an effort go just wide and then a scramble in the box was eventually cleared by the Boroughbridge defence.
The visitors however launched another break after some further Scotton pressure, Chris doing well to stop them on the half way line. Max then made his third excellent save of the half, getting down well to block another good shot, whilst Elliott and Owen did well to clear another attack; as the full time whistle approached Scotton broke well from defence, Ewan finding Cameron with an excellent pass, Cameron carried the ball into the Boroughbridge half, and with the defence stretched found Tom with a pinpoint pass, Tom took the ball in his stride and unleashed an excellent shot that the away ‘goalie’ managed to ‘save’ with his head, the ball rebounding away to safety as the final whistle blew, 2-1 to the visitors but congratulations to both sets of players for an excellent game of football; and Scotton can feel a little unlucky to lose after an excellent second half performance.
Game 2 started with Ben in goal and an outfield of Sam, Luke, Tom, Max, Jack, Daniel and George. Scotton started the brighter, with George winning an early throw in deep in the visitor’s half, further pressure from George and Jack saw Scotton win the first corner of the match. Tom crossed the ball and found Daniel in the middle of the visitor’s penalty area who buried the ball in the back of the net with an excellent header, 1-0 to Scotton.
As in the first game, Boroughbridge were quick to break forward and an attack led to a free kick on the edge of the box, the shot came in and despite Tom’s best efforts to head the ball away it hit the top corner of the net, 1-1 and game on. Tom and George were linking up well in attack, whilst Max was marshalling the defence well, bringing the ball out and down the left wing and eventually winning a free kick. Tom tried his luck with a shot which went just wide. Again Tom and George were linking up well in midfield, and when Sam found George with an excellent cross, the ball found its way to Tom at the edge of the box and he steered it home through the visitor’s defensive line. 2-1 to Scotton.
Max again showed his defensive qualities, stopping a Boroughbridge attack at the edge of the box; the ball then went for a corner which was well cleared by Luke and then Sam – Max finished the job getting the ball away. Daniel picked up the clearance down the left and found George whose shot was blocked. Luke and Max then combined well to mop up another Boroughbridge attack, the visitors managed the force a corner which was whipped in and after a scrambled was forced over the line. 2-2 and the match could go either way.
Scotton did not let their heads go down, and George found Tom on the right wing with an excellent pass, Tom skipped past two defenders before being fouled by a rather stiff challenge, Tom managed to get straight up and the free kick was cleared by the visitors. As half time approached there was still time for Max to take one in the guts for the team, as the ball was blasted at him, but in no time he was back on his feet. Half time 2-2
Liam, Danny and James were brought on for the second half in place of Max and Tom; the early play was taking place in midfield with Liam getting on the end of a couple of good runs. Sam got in a good defensive tackle to stop a Boroughbridge attack whilst Liam again broke from defence and was only stopped by a last ditch tackle. Liam and Luke then showed us some good defensive play before the referee blew the whistle for full time. 2-2 and an excellent morning’s football by both teams.
