Saturday 27th November 2021
Vale of White Horse U13's 6-2 Wolverhampton U13's
Team: Freddie Neale, Josh Smart, Tyler Rhodes Cane, Nana Yeboah, Prajwal Singh, Mustafa Sultani, Owen Edmonds, Sam Reade, Bailey Perry, Jack Cox, Issac Grice, Lewis Gandy, Leo Watson, Aston Allen, Aiden Priest
Wolverhampton started very slowly in this game as this was their first game together and it was no surprise that we went behind after only five minutes. Vale of White Horse broke away on the left and their striker powered the ball into the roof of the net giving Freddie Neale in goal no chance. We struck back almost immediately, however, and got an equaliser on 8 minutes when Owen Edmonds played a great through ball that sent Bailey Perry away. Bailey made no mistake shooting early past the advancing goalkeeper. Unfortunately, we failed to build on this great passage of play and soon found ourselves 3-1 down as our defence was far too open. The fourth goal effectively killed the game and it was particularly unfortunate as the referee adjudged Tyler to have passed the ball back to Freddie in goal. The indirect free kick on the 6 yard line was quickly dispatched and with our confidence firmly dented we found ourselves 5-1 down at the break . The Vale of White Horse had shown themselves to be a well organised, determined team and our lack of cohesion, understanding and competitiveness in the first half had been severely punished.
The boys were challenged to improve in the second half and they did, drawing the second period 1-1 and making more of a game of it. Indeed, in many respects we were the better team for much of the second half and could have scored more than the one goal we achieved. It was a very good goal, created by the determination of Bailey Perry who beat defenders on the left before crossing from the byline, and his cross was met by Owen Edmonds who volleyed the ball in from close range following a great run into the box. Vale did grab a sixth goal near the end but if we can maintain our second half performance, then I'm sure we will get a win before too long. A great fightback lads. Hopefully you will have learned from the experience!