Boys' U14B v Bradfield

Date:
Saturday 19th September

Venue:
Away, depart 9.20 am

Team:
Bell, Li, Staley, Carter, Clarke, Wilcock, Cotter, Reynolds, McCallum-Suarez, Shires, Prutton, Afoakwah

Result:
Bradfield 8-1 Repton

Match Report:
There were lessons to be learnt from last week’s 6-1 victory over Kimbolton; they were not, and it is to be hoped that the same mistake is not made twice. In the opening salvos, the key threat looked likely to come from the two Leviathans who forming Bradfield’s spine, and Danny Afoakwah – nobly and dynamically stepping in at the last minute as ’keeper, selflessly subsuming his midfield talent to the greater good – and some squandered chances spared our blushes; in fact, Bradfield’s speed and quality on the wings and tenacity and clinicism in the box were what overwhelmed us. For a moment, however, our fate was not so clearly inexorable: in our first sortie into the Bradfield half, Mikey Li ran onto an incisive through ball and chipped the ’keeper with admirable composure. Parity, and, if truth be told, justice, was restored within three minutes, with a strong header from the giant up front. A scarcely credulous crowd saw Repton keep the scores level till the 25th minute, with a man-of-the-match display in goal from Afoakwah, undoubtedly the find of the week; as others asked for whom the bell was tolling in the second half, it was clear that he remained focused on every cross and through ball, and marshalled his defence with authority and intelligence. Without him, it could have been 6-1, not 2-1, at half-time, but one was struggling not to find a metaphor in the red kite circling above the Pang Valley.

The key issues remain a disinclination to attack the ball in defence, and a seeming inability to move the ball wide in midfield: just as we did at the start of the second half last week, we insisted on trying to dribble past three men, or pass through players to empty space when easy options were available to the side. As the second half progressed, we did show greater desire to work as a unit, but the goals were ticked off as though the Bradfield forwards were working to a schedule, as the defence were turned back and forth by some tidy wing-play, and, in the end, were stretched out of position, leaving overlaps of several players. There is, undoubtedly, quality in defence on which to build – James Shires, in particular, had some accomplished moments – and no shame in losing to a better side, and we were too often overrun in midfield, but we shall need not to put pressure on ourselves quite so assiduously, and make the most of opportunities up front if we are to give ourselves a platform on which to build for the rest of the season.