Scotton Scorchers 8s v Kirby Malzeard - Match Reports; Sat Nov 5
Saturday 5th November saw Scotton Scorchers U8’s play a home fixture against Kirkby Malzeard. A player shortage meant that we had to ask the Under 9s to donate a couple of players to the team and the squad consisted of 7 Under 8 players and 4 Under 9s.
The first match saw Kirkby play some decent football, with their midfield dominating the match. However, determined defending from Ennis Mackensie and Callum Healey kept the visitors at bay until a clearing header fell to a Kirby midfielder who rifled a long distance shot to put them into the lead. Further pressure from Kirkby could have led to more goals but for some good saves from Jacob Cardani between the posts. Scotton looked dangerous on the break and Sam Hutchinson and Tom Manning always looked capable of bringing the Scorchers back into the game through their powerful running and Scotton gradually started to win the midfield battle.
Half time saw a couple of changes to the team and after the restart there was some excellent passing and moving from Scotton. Sam H started to boss the midfield and he combined well with the skilful Joseph Navier and James Haveron to put pressure of the Kirkby defence. This pressure eventually told when Sam calmly finished a flowing move which involved most of the Scotton team. Jack Howells and Antony Sibanda looked dangerous on the break and the Kirkby defence did well to withstand the pressure. Despite many attempts on goal, the score remained 1-1 until the final whistle.
In the second match, the persistent rain meant that frequent substitutions would be needed to ensure that the lads stayed warm! Freddie Dooley took over the goal keeping duties and started off making a couple of stops from Kirkby who started the match well. Two quick goals from Kirkby were reward for their passing game and it looked as though it would be tough to turn the game around especially when the score remained at 2-0 at half time. However, in the second half the lads continued to battle and gradually started to exert themselves on the opposition with Sam and Jack really dominating the midfield. Freddie Dooley was now upfront and had a chance to pull a goal back but his shot was blocked by a defender. Another flowing move saw Sam H score his second of the day to pull a goal back for Scotton and then very quickly Jack finished well with a powerful shot to bring the score back to 2-2. The continuing rain meant that the conditions were deteriorating rapidly but the boys kept trying to play football with Sam excelling in the centre of the pitch. Joseph and James continued to trouble the opposition defence and Scotton could have (and were unlucky not too) scored a winning goal. However a draw was a fair result and was a fair reflection of the match.
Well done to all the boys (and the supporters who stayed and cheered despite the rain) for a battling performance. Week by week they are improving and starting to show an understanding of how easy this game can be when you let the ball do the work. The man of the day award was awarded to Sam Hutchinson for his all round performance and two goals although all the other lads were praised for their performances.
