Boys' U15B v Kimbolton

Date: Saturday 30th January

Venue: Away. Depart 11.40am

Team:

Match Report:

We arrived to a partially-frozen astroturf, and the decision was taken to play 7-a-side across half the pitch, to avoid the danger area. Not ideal - but at least it gave the boys the opportunity to adapt their normal game to a new style of play, and I was pleased with the way they learned and applied new tactical approaches as the game progressed.

The match was split into 15-minute quarters, to allow frequent team rotation. We began brightly, Andy Martin scoring after 4 minutes, but a little bit of naivety allowed Kimbolton to level soon afterwards, and take a 2-1 lead at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. However, after that, it was all about us. Seb Howle - who had another excellent game at the heart of the team - and tenacious captain Fraser Lane inspired a comeback that saw us 4-2 up going into the final period of play.

The frequent substitutions meant that players only had a brief period in which to impress, and most were very keen to make the right impression and guarantee their selection for the next game. Ed Carver and Mark Goodhead, in particular, felt they had something to prove - and both had excellent games. Credit must also be given to Harry Taroni, who manfully shook off a knee injury to fulfil his goalkeeping duties: fortunately, he was able to sit down for most of the match...

So, we were comfortably on top going into the final 15 minutes, but that wasn't enough for Ethan Coupland-Smith, who, having scored a hat-trick in the last match but so far drawn a blank in this game, was hungry for goals.

He scored 4 in less than 4 minutes.

(So I substituted him, in case he broke MLJ's record of 6 in a game...)

JMJH

Goals: Martin (4), Lane (18), Howle (23), Carver (31), Coupland-Smith (48, 48, 50, 51)

Man of the Match: Goodhead