This week the Sharks were still on a high from the convincing win the previous week.  It was a mid-morning KO and everybody was in a good mood. Dylan had returned after a missed training session and was due to have a late fitness test.  Unfortunately Harry was once again called for a photo shoot that meant that he was unavailable for today’s game. 
 
The Sharks started as follows, Dylan having passed his late fitness test he started in goal once again. Followed by Elliott, Jack, Giacomo, Jake, Caleb, and Freddie filling the starting 7 places which meant that Liam, Aidan and Josh all started from the bench. Once again, we were assigned what appeared to be a official looking ref which was pleasing to see, as I knew this game was going to be closely fought as we just about overcome the same opposition no more than 4 weeks previous.
 
The Sharks started brightly but didn’t have a lot of the ball to show for their efforts, it was looking like this was going to be a tough morning for the boys.  The opposition showed a lot of respect for the Sharks by keeping two defenders back at all times, this gave me hope, as currently the Sharks were not stringing many passes together and playing into the opposition’s hands to often. After about 5/10 minutes the Sharks managed to get to grips with the game, Jack was trying to play the ball wide and up the wings when possible, Elliott was also trying to show his ability on the ball by trying to playing out from the back, but on occasions they were being tackled and caught on the ball when the simple pass would have done the job. Giacomo was once again being busy in the middle of the park but was not really getting that much joy. Freddie was finding it hard to get himself involved in the game, because I was asking him to hold his position out wide trying to get them to stretch the play and create space for other players.  The same could be said for Caleb on the other side of midfield, he was battling hard but wasn’t really getting much joy, and Jake in his attempts to get the ball was dropping too deep into midfield leaving the Sharks with no outlet ball when the ball was played up field.
 
After some encouraging words from the side lines, Jake adjusted his position to provide an outlet, Elliott and Jack started passing the ball out from the back a little more which gave Freddie some more ball, that enabled him to use his quick feet to try and create for the forward running players.  The Sharks managed to then take the lead, this was through some excellent work from Liam who by this point had come on to the field of play along with Josh and Aidan.  Liam picked the ball up on the left-hand side of midfield and drove with the ball up the wing, this put the Sharks in a more advanced position and enabled us to build our attacks further up the pitch. The opposition were defending well but only managed to half clear their lines.  The ball broke to Gaicomo close to the oppositions penalty area, he drove into the box before unleashing thunderous shot into the roof of the net giving the oppositions goalkeeper no chance of saving it. 
 
With the Sharks leading, you could see the belief in the lads that they could go on to win this game comfortably, but this was a dangerous thing, as rather than holding our shape everyone decided that they wanted to get themselves on the scoresheet.  This meant that we were leaving ourselves open at the back and giving the opposition forwards the freedom they wanted as well as the space they needed.  With this the opposition they managed to draw themselves level, with the ball once again bouncing around in the middle of the park.  The opposition played a neat through ball, which cut out our defence completely and allowed one of the opposition forward to charge in on goal with both Elliott and Jack giving chase.  With the ball getting closer to Dylan I was expecting him to come and claim the ball as it was getting close enough for him to do so, but he choose to stay on his line instead and the ball trickled into our net uncontested.  A disappointing goal to concede and Dylan was upset about this and threw his cap down in disgust. This will be a mental challenge now for Dylan as goalkeepers have a thankless task of being either the hero or the villain, but I am very grateful to Dylan for playing in goal full time. 
 
So, with the scores level and the game evenly balanced, the Sharks managed to pull ahead again through Jake this time.  It is good to see that Jake has found his goal scoring touch again as the effort that he shows deserves a reward, and todays goal was his fourth in two games.  The build-up play was again good, with some good work from Jack, Giacomo and Freddie all playing their part in creating the chance for Jake which he took with great glee. 
 
As the first half came to a close the Sharks were leading, I expected the opposition to come back at us again.  We have learnt that we have to keep playing until the final whistle. 
So, the second half got under way and the Sharks looked in a dominate mood with Aidan now finding his feet and running down the right wing effortlessly, taking people on, drawing fouls. He will soon become a very important player, and the best thing about this that he wants to and can also score goals.
 
The Sharks managed to score another goal doubling our advantage, this was directly down to Aidan, working hard, getting the ball and playing a great through ball that fell to Giacomo.  He made no mistakes by planting his shot wide of the goalkeeper and making that his second goal of the game. 
 
This seemed to stun the opposition, and they retreated further back into their own half which in turn gave the Sharks the space they needed to exploit whilst looking for another goal, and this dually came via Jake and his right foot. This was his second goal of the game and fifth in two games so again a massive well done. 
 
The opposition then had a rare chance to grab a goal back, but thanks to Dylan’s brillant save we manager to keep our advantage as it was.  With some words of encouragement, and a reminder that we had to keep our shape we were able to make changes to both positions, and the players on the pitch.
 
Josh is continuing to develop and is making steady progress, Caleb is also becoming a valuable member of the team, with his ability to be able to play in a number of positions. 
 
With the team reshaped the Sharks were awarded a penalty for a foul in the oppositions box, it was the right decision but also good play from the lads, as they kept the pressure on and retained the ball in the box drawing the foul.   As Jack has been given the duty of penalty taker, he placed the ball down, waited for the Ref to indicate that he was allowed to take and  he then took the penalty well, dispatching the ball perfectly into the back of the net with a clean strike of the ball. 
 
With only minutes remaining in the second half the Sharks were controlling the game well, the score line was a fair reflection on their performance, if anything the score line could have been greater, but some good saves from the oppositions goal keeper meant we had to settle for what we had already achieved. 
 
So, the game finished and the Sharks had won again, the boys must be enjoying this winning streak as much as I am. So, we move onto next week full of confidence, and looking to continue this run. 
 
Thanks again to all the parents for bringing and supporting the boys, it is great seeing them develop and improve their own games. 
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​The Sharks were returning after a confidence boasting comeback-victory last week that took courage, bravery and belief to achieve. We were now faced with another challenge, having to play our home fixture away from home, and with an early start and a fair distance to travel I want to say a big thank you to my parents for the great turn out,  and to the opposition for allowing us to do this otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this match report but entering a postponement instead. 
It is a rare event that we have every Shark available this weekend, so the starting lineup is as follows: the returning Dylan in goal (welcome back), Elliott, Jack, Giacomo, Jake, Freddie and Caleb, which means Liam, Josh, Harry and Aidan will be starting from the bench this week.  I just want to stress, with the boys who start from the bench it isn’t that they are playing badly or not valued but it is an opportunity to have a strong bench that enables me to balance the team as best as I can.
With the wind blowing and a low sun, the Sharks kicked off the first half looking to extend their winning run, we were expecting a tough game as this was the first time that we were playing this team who had just moved into our league from the one above.
The game started well, with Giacomo being ‘work man like’ in the middle of the park, closing players down and creating space for others too. The Sharks were on top during the early exchanges creating good chances for Freddie, Jake and Giacomo;  Jake and Elliott looking solid at the back; Jack was pushing forward supporting Giacomo well, filling in the gaps that were being left and tiding up if and when needed.  Caleb was being disciplined, holding his position well and covering defensive duties when we had an attacking corner. 
The Sharks took an early lead through Jake, it was smart play from Aidan that helped create this, he broke the play up well holding onto the ball before passing to Giacomo who created the space that Jake run onto before receiving his pass.  He controlled the ball well before lashing the ball into the back on the net.  A great start especially for Jake, as he really needed that goal to help his confidence. 
As the game settled into a good pattern, the Sharks were becoming dominant making Dylan a spectator at points during the first half. The Sharks then doubled their lead through Aidan, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that Aidan managed to score his second goal for the Sharks this season.  He took it well.  He won the ball fair and square via a 50/50 challenge, strided into the box before hitting a crisp shot that ended in the back of the net. This put the Sharks into a commanding position.
As the game continued, the same pattern was shaping up.  I believe the boys sensed that there were goals to be scored and they began running with the ball rather than passing and moving into space as they should have been doing. 
As the first half was coming to a close, the Sharks managed to triple their lead.  This time it was a scrappy goal. This came about because the lads refused to let the opposition have time on the ball that they wanted, they fought for everything that became lose, and with that determination the ball broke to Laim who stabbed the ball home.  
With seconds remaining of the first half, Giacomo burst through the middle of the park, he was bearing down on goal, and was just about to take his shot when his chance was snatched away from him by the half time whistle.  This was a shame because I had no doubts that Giacomo would have extend our lead further. 
With a quick pep talk, reminding them all to PASS the ball and not to just run with it the Sharks took to the field for the second half.  As the second half begun, it was clear that the Sharks were too strong on this particular day, because within the first 5 minutes the Sharks managed to add another couple of goals making the score line look very one sided, these goals were added by Giacomo, and Freddie, both were scored from close range. 
In an attempt to give some of the Sharks who it needed more playing time, I was able to reshape the team to give them a chance and also give some of the lad’s different roles so they could express themselves without having defensive responsibility. 
Now with the team reshaped and still having a strong balance, the Sharks managed to add more goals to the score line.  This time Jake scored another well taken goal. Then Aidan scored again, his second in the game, this came from a corner that the keeper failed to hold onto that Aidan was able to volley home from close range.  
The opposition were trying extremely hard to get onto the score, and were starting to get some joy, but when they did breach our defensive line we were thankful for Dylan who managed to pull off a good save. 
The Sharks then added another couple of goals, these were from Giacomo, his second of the game, and Freddie, once again scoring two within one game. So we had four players who had scored two goals each, Giacomo, Freddie, Aidan and Jake, but who would manage to get their hat trick.
With the result now safe and the game effectively over, I was able to make further changes to the team, still keeping a good balance.  The opposition then managed to pull a goal back, with a good shot that Dylan managed to get a hand to but could not stop completely.  The ref made the decision that the ball had crossed the line and gave the goal, if the ball crossed the line or not I am not 100% sure, but I was happy for the opposition who to their credit never gave up and deserved something from this game.
With the team, now reshaped, and Elliott playing in a more advanced role, the Sharks added another goal from the boot of Elliott, which was well laid on by Giacomo, Giacomo had a chance for the hat trick but was unselfish and played through to Elliot instead.  Well done young man. 
Then came the moment of the match, where poor Harry managed to do a Steven Gerrard:  He was in complete control, but the vital moment when he was only a few yard off his attacker he turned sharply and slipped over allowing the attacker to race clean through in on goal to score.  There was no doubting this time that the ball had crossed the line. 
With the game coming to a close it was Jake that managed to claim the honor of scoring his third goal of the game.  Jack broke play up again, and attempted a long range effort, with the wind holding the ball up, Jake stole in front of the goal keeper and got his head to the ball, this sent the ball up and over the goal keeper for a great goal. 
The game closed with a convincing win, every lad played really well, Josh is starting to show signs that he is adjusting to a bigger pitch, Harry is improving week upon week.  Well done to all of the lads that scored, but it was a team effort and without everybody involved this result could not have been achieved.  
Thank you to all you parents once again for your support to the boys and myself, you are the people that make this team.  

​The Sharks were coming into this first game of 2020 off the back of a good hard fought victory. With the shuffling of leagues, it was all change for the second half of the season. Regardless of the opposition the Sharks were positive of getting an another victory.  The news that Dylan was not able to play due to an injury was not ideal, but we would reshuffle things and try our best regardless.  So we started the game as follows. Jack in goal (to start with at least) Elliott, Aidan, Giacomo, Liam, Jake, Freddie with Caleb, Josh and Harry starting from the bench. 
The game started and the Sharks were a little off tune.   I put this down to the change in positions and the Christmas break rather than the opposition forcing the Sharks into mistakes. The Sharks didn’t have good shape and the midfield were not tracking back as well as they should have, but with that said, the Sharks managed to have the first effort on goal.  This came from an ambitious effort from Liam, collecting the ball well from Giacomo, taking a player on and having a shot when the chance presented itself to him.    
After only 5 minutes the Sharks were behind, this was due to a good move from the opposition that isolated Elliott and took him out of the game.   Elliott wasn’t able to recover and the opposition scored past Jack who tried his best to stop it but without much luck. 
The Sharks now had to draw themselves level, and they set about the task brilliantly with efforts from Giacomo, Liam, Freddie and Elliott all testing the oppositions goal keeper, but unfortunately with no goal to show for it.  As it looked like we were going to draw level the opposition managed to extend their lead again. The Sharks were out of position, and not holding the correct shape, letting the opposition have space they needed.  But either way they still had to score which they did.  
The Sharks now found themselves a couple of goals adrift and I felt that this was going to be one of those days that things were not going to go our way.  This was only highlighted by a penalty appeal being waved away.  I think VAR might have had something to say about that if that was in use. So the Sharks continued to ask more questions knowing that one goal before half time was going to make all the difference. But the goal went in the oppositions favor, with some bright play and a neat finish.  The Sharks had a mountain to climb as the first half came to a close.   
I must mention Harry now. He had to came on very early into the first half and play a position that is normally played very well by Jack.  Harry managed brilliantly, putting in every ounce of effort that he had; running, tackling back, not giving up when he lost the ball and making life hard for the opposition, preventing them from scoring as best he could  Of that alone he should be super proud of himself. 
Liam took over in goal and Jack come out onto pitch. The half time chat was brief but simply, ‘Do not concede another goal!’, and try and claw our way back into this game. 
Just as the second half got underway, the Sharks conceded another goal, just to make our challenge even more interesting. So we had to score multiple goals to even think about drawing level let alone winning it. 
Now the tale of the second half really got underway.  With Jack and Elliott resuming their normal positions the Sharks finally started to look like an attacking threat, with Freddie playing some smart through balls that both Jake and Giacomo were running on to. Caleb, Harry, Jack and Elliott were all breaking up the play brilliantly, Josh was entering the field and making an impact, he is also doing more running and applying more pressure where he can. 
The break though finally happened when Giacomo scored his first of the game with some bright play by Aidan who had returned to playing on the right hand side of midfield, collecting the ball holding o ff a player and passing the ball into space. The ball broke to Giacomo who drove towards goal before slotting home nicely. 
The recovery was underway, and it appeared that the boys believed that to be the case too, we were now defending better and trying to pass the ball more. Elliott was making impressive runs which was causing real trouble for the opposition, and this was how our next goal came about.  An impressive run and pass, leading to the ball falling at Freddie’s feet, and my little fox in the box didn’t let me down. He slid the ball into the back of the net to halve the oppositions lead.  The opposition management sensed that the comeback was on, as they changed shape to try restrict the Sharks and prevent us from scoring again. 
Within 3 minutes of the Sharks halving the lead they managed to claw another goal back, this was scored by Giacomo again, bursting through the middle and holding off a challenge before finishing well.  This goal gave the Sharks a massive lift and belief that we could win this game, it was now becoming a race against time as we were entering the final 10 minutes. 
The Sharks had a massive effort denied by a good save from the keeper, the cross bar and the roof of the net. Elliott struck his shot so true that everybody was surprised not to see the net ripple, I think it hit the goal keeper, the underside of the cross bar then the net before the opposition goal keeper clawed it back out… this was a shame as Elliott deserved that, but minutes later the Sharks had drawn level through another goal from Freddie, an amazing effort by all. 
The ball was played into the box, then after a short scrabble landed in Freddie’s path who stabbed the ball into the back of the net. The lads were over joyed to be level, but they weren’t finished there.  The opposition could not believe that the Sharks had managed to claw themselves back into this game.  The Sharks went about trying to now win the game, an unbelievable thought at the start of the second half, and the come back was complete. Giacomo popped up with the winning strike, his third goal of the game and we had no more than a minute to hold on to this great result which the Sharks managed to do. 
This has to go down as one of the best games the Sharks have had!  We were dead and buried after the first half, but the boys pulled together and got the result they deserved for their effort and courage they had shown. 
Once again thanks or the fantastic support from you parents, this team wouldn’t be anything without you guys. 
So onto next week in high spirts. Well done Sharks.

With this being the last game before Christmas and a first away game for 5 weeks we were looking to make amends for a narrow defeat the previous week.  With only Harry not available due to endorsement commitments the Sharks had a full strength team.  The Sharks starting lineup was as follows; Dylan in Goal, Elliott, Jack, Freddie, Jake, Liam and Aidan, which meant that Josh, Giacomo, and Caleb all started on the bench. 
With a professional looking ref inspecting each goal as they were placed the game kicked off at its assigned time.  The boys started very brightly doing most of the running in the first 5 minutes, with both Elliott and Jack looking solid, Freddie working neatly in the attacking midfield role, Aidan showing quick feet and body strength, and Liam showing his normal battling nature down the left hand side. 
As the game progressed, the opposition managed to work their way into the game, especially one of the forward players who was impressive.  He was managing to give Elliott the run around with his ability to keep the ball close and twist away from Elliott when he tried to tackle him.  This was one of main reasons why the opposition managed to take the lead. 
The ball was played into an attacking area by the opposition,  Elliot went in to challenge them but was left chasing his tail by the attacking player after a neat turn.  This then brought Jack into play. Both Elliott and Jack have a good understanding of covering each other; Jack made up the required ground, put in an attempt to block the shot, he failed the opposition player in the box and gave away a penalty.  This was the first meaningful attack by the opposition who took the penalty well and scored.  This was hard to swallow as this meant that the Sharks had to fight their way back into the game once more. 
We didn’t have to wait long for the game to draw level, the Sharks were applying pressure and getting some success down the wings.  Jake seems to enjoy the role of winger at the moment. He was collecting the ball, cutting inside and out before delivering good crosses into the box.  If it wasn’t for not being able to control the football, the Sharks  would probably have drawn level earlier and taken the lead, but this is something that we can work on in the new year. 
As the pressure continued to build, the Sharks scored past another impressive goal keeper. Giacomo played a neat pass to Aidan who managed to get the ball back to him, enabling Giacomo to break through the defensive line and thump his shot into the roof of the net giving the keeper no chance.  
With the Sharks now level we began to apply more pressure giving us more chances to score.  But again we faced with another outstanding goal keeper who managed to save most things that came his way.  I had a sinking feeling that it was going to prove a frustrating morning, but I was proud of the way the boys stuck to the task of trying to gain the lead. 
We had another glorious chance, this time from a free kick, it was roughly 15/20 yards out, pretty much central but slightly to the left hand side and Jack was tasked with taking it. Jack took aim and had a great shot, it was destined to go into the top corner, but was well saved and the rebound bounced to safety for a corner.  The first half finished with the Sharks doing all of the pushing; Josh making an impact, doing more running and more hassling than seen before, so a massive well done to him, Caleb again being disciplined and tackling back and forth, and filling in for Elliott when he goes for corners proving his value to the team.     
With the second half underway, the normal pattern resumed, the Sharks pinned the opposition back and limited the amount of attacks they had.  Credit must be given to all of the team as they worked so hard and well together. 
With the game looking more than likely to be a draw, the opposition gave the Sharks a wakeup call.  They broke through the middle of the park catching both Jack, Elliott and Giacomo out of position  The attacking player was bearing down on goal, we were looking to Dylan to save the day, but to the managements horror Dylan had his back turned to the play and was walking around in a circle trying to keep himself amused as the Sharks were dominating the game. With the management telling Dylan to face the play NOW the attacker was put off and struck the ball but it hit the post and bounced to safety  This was a massive relief to everyone connected to the Sharks, Dylan must have been a cat in a previous life because he used a life up then for sure.
With time running down, another free kick was given to the Sharks. Once again Jack was charged with hitting the target from distance, and he did not disappoint and this time the Sharks made sure that we had bodies around the goal keeper, so if he saved it, it might present a chance to the waiting players.  The keeper saved well like before, but this time it fell to Freddie, he took a touch, but was block off, so Giacomo tried his luck, and somehow the ball managed to wriggle past the post for a goal kick. 
Now the game was entering the last 5 minutes a chance presented itself to Giacomo, a poor goal kick resulted in Jack challenging him for the ball, the ball then broke to Giacomo and with the opposition’s goal keeper out of position, Giacomo tried his luck and shot from distance  The ball bounced and bobbled its way into the back of the net giving the Sharks a deserved lead with only a number of minutes left to play. The Sharks changed formation to secure the result. 
The Sharks finished the game as we had played it…on top!  This had been an entertaining game, that could have gone either way, but glad it went our way as I felt that we deserved it with the amount of effort that the boys had put in.
So we finished before Christmas with a victory, and a well-deserved break for both players and parents. 
As always thanks for all your help and effort, the Sharks would not be a team if it wasn’t for the parents and the boys.  Have a great time and I will see you all in the new year.