The Sharks were approaching this game off the back of a 5 game winning streak, but this game was going to be a tougher test than the week before, as we have played this oppositions a number of times now and have had mixed results. Our recent match ended with the Sharks being victorious so pay back was going to be on the cards know doubt.
With this is mind the Sharks were raring to go, they had showed a good attitude during training the day before and the warm up was positive too, which was pleasing to see.
So the Sharks started as follows, Dylan in Goal, Elliott, Jack, Giacomo, Jake, Freddie and Liam, with Aidan, Josh, Caleb and Harry on the bench. As I say in all of my match reports the lads on the bench are just as important to the team as the players starting the game, but they are providing fresh legs, and effort.
The game got underway with a bang, and I mean with a bang, with minutes of the KO, Liam was subjected to a crunching tackle which shook him up, and hurt his left ankle to a point where I had to replace him with Harry. The game continued in similar fashion, with the opposition using the physical side to try and unsettle the Sharks. But the boys were handling it well: Jack was riding challenges, Elliott was being robust, Freddie was also putting his foot in when it counted, Giacomo was being tested with tackles that were nipping at his ankles and testing his temperament.
With about 10 minutes played the opposition was awarded a penalty, I thought that the award of the penalty was slightly harsh as Jack challenged for the ball. But the penalty stood and now we had to deal with that regardless of the outcome.
So this was now a one on one challenge between the opposition attacker and Dylan, I had faith in Dylan but normally the ball hits the back of the net, so the opposition attacker stepped up a struck the ball well but dragged the ball wide and Dylan guessed and dived the right direction, but the ball hit the post and rebounded across the goal line, Dylan then had the quickness of thought not to knock the ball into the net but to grab it before everyone piled in to try and score. So a massive well done to Dylan.
This gave the boys a massive life, especially Dylan banging his chest as if he was Braveheart emerging victories from battle. So the game remained level and the Sharks then started taking the game to the opposition, again dealing with some robust tackles but the boys will have to learn to deal with these types of games and this will give them good experience.
The Sharks then got their first corner of the game after about 15minutes, Jack as normal stepped up and took it, it was a great corner, the ball was floated in directly under the oppositions goalkeepers cross bar, this caused confusion and panic as everyone attempted to get the telling touch, it is hard to say who got the final touch but Jack’s delivery was fantastic so credit has to go to him.
This took the wind out of the opposition as I believe they thought that they were getting on top, the Sharks’ midfield was playing brilliantly: Harry was picking the ball up and running with it, Gicaomo was everywhere as normal, closing down tackling and looking composed on the ball, Freddie was fantastic, hold the ball up, shielding the ball when needed and getting stuck in too.
The Sharks then managed to double their lead through Giacomo once again, the ball was played by Elliott at the back up the righthand side of midfield, Freddie collected the ball who then attempted to pass the ball to Giacomo, who burst through the middle of the park to SLAM the ball into the back of the net, it was the reward that he deserved.
With the first half coming to an end the opposition had another chance to score and was once again stopped by Jack and Elliott who was now marshalling our defence brilliantly.
After the half time whistle went, I managed to get the boys to relax and calm down after discussing the penalty miss, it was a quick reminder that this game was not over and that we were to expect more of the same regarding the physical side of the game.
So the Sharks took to the field for the 2nd half and the team was full of confidence, and were determined to extend their lead and this dually came after some brave tackling in the middle of the park from Jack, Giacomo and Freddie. Freddie might be a slight lad but when the red mist descends there is no holding that boy back, and this was the case on this occasion. He broke the play up brilliantly and played a neat ball through for Giacomo who raced through on goal and smartly finished giving the keeper no chance.
With the game now getting away from the opposition, frustration was beginning to set in, and this lead to our next goal.
Liam was once again on the end of a crunching tackle which drew a free kick just meters away from the penalty box, this was within the range of Jack, and the way that he was striking the ball today I had no doubt that he was going to have a shot on goal. That is exactly what happened, he struck the shot very sweetly, and it raced towards the goal, the opposition goal keeper did very well in stopping the shot from distance, but only pushed the ball back out into play, and Giacomo’s reaction was fabulous, striking the ball on the volley to send the ball back into an unguarded net, this goal effectively finished the game as the oppositions heads dropped.
This enabled me to rotate some of the players once more, Jack by this time wasn’t 100% so I managed to take him off to give him a break, Jake retreated and played last man, with Elliott playing in the defensive role, with Aidan now playing on the right, Caleb on the left and Freddie up front.
With about 10minutes remaining we changed this up again, this time I was able to bring off Elliott, to give him a rest as he had put in a shift this afternoon and he also had been on the end of some solid challenges that were completely fair. With Jake now playing at the other end of the pitch he was doing a great job at keeping the opposition at bay, with Harry sitting in front of him, only on two occasions did the opposition manage to break our defensive line, but was brilliantly thwarted by Dylan. One with a great catch, and the other with a diving save at the oppositions feet. I really think that the goal keeper training is starting to bear some fruit and Dylan and the Sharks are benefiting from that. Also I can see a marked improvement with Dylan’s kicking from hand, it is covering more distance and giving the defence a chance to reclaim the ball and start attacks higher up the pitch.
With time drawing to a close the Sharks managed to score another goal, and this is the sweetest one on the all, the ball was played to Josh up the line from Jake, Josh let the ball run across his body and then he ran onto it, with his determination he managed to squeeze the ball to the on rushing Harry who evaded a challenge and then drove in to the box before slotting home for his first goal for the Sharks this season, it was nice to see that every player went to Harry and congratulated him after he scored.
With the final whistle blown, the Sharks had managed to keep a clean sheet and score a number of good goals against a strong team that we respected.
A massive well done to every single lad that played today, with each player giving a 100% and overcoming the physical side of the game, it is something that the Sharks are not shy of, but we do not come up against many teams that are able to compete with us in that way.
So thank you to all the parents that came out this afternoon, and supported the Sharks and myself. It is a pleasure watching these lads grow as people as well as football players.
So now onto next week and another challenge, but I know that every lad will be looking forward to it and let’s hope that we are able to continue our winning run.
With this is mind the Sharks were raring to go, they had showed a good attitude during training the day before and the warm up was positive too, which was pleasing to see.
So the Sharks started as follows, Dylan in Goal, Elliott, Jack, Giacomo, Jake, Freddie and Liam, with Aidan, Josh, Caleb and Harry on the bench. As I say in all of my match reports the lads on the bench are just as important to the team as the players starting the game, but they are providing fresh legs, and effort.
The game got underway with a bang, and I mean with a bang, with minutes of the KO, Liam was subjected to a crunching tackle which shook him up, and hurt his left ankle to a point where I had to replace him with Harry. The game continued in similar fashion, with the opposition using the physical side to try and unsettle the Sharks. But the boys were handling it well: Jack was riding challenges, Elliott was being robust, Freddie was also putting his foot in when it counted, Giacomo was being tested with tackles that were nipping at his ankles and testing his temperament.
With about 10 minutes played the opposition was awarded a penalty, I thought that the award of the penalty was slightly harsh as Jack challenged for the ball. But the penalty stood and now we had to deal with that regardless of the outcome.
So this was now a one on one challenge between the opposition attacker and Dylan, I had faith in Dylan but normally the ball hits the back of the net, so the opposition attacker stepped up a struck the ball well but dragged the ball wide and Dylan guessed and dived the right direction, but the ball hit the post and rebounded across the goal line, Dylan then had the quickness of thought not to knock the ball into the net but to grab it before everyone piled in to try and score. So a massive well done to Dylan.
This gave the boys a massive life, especially Dylan banging his chest as if he was Braveheart emerging victories from battle. So the game remained level and the Sharks then started taking the game to the opposition, again dealing with some robust tackles but the boys will have to learn to deal with these types of games and this will give them good experience.
The Sharks then got their first corner of the game after about 15minutes, Jack as normal stepped up and took it, it was a great corner, the ball was floated in directly under the oppositions goalkeepers cross bar, this caused confusion and panic as everyone attempted to get the telling touch, it is hard to say who got the final touch but Jack’s delivery was fantastic so credit has to go to him.
This took the wind out of the opposition as I believe they thought that they were getting on top, the Sharks’ midfield was playing brilliantly: Harry was picking the ball up and running with it, Gicaomo was everywhere as normal, closing down tackling and looking composed on the ball, Freddie was fantastic, hold the ball up, shielding the ball when needed and getting stuck in too.
The Sharks then managed to double their lead through Giacomo once again, the ball was played by Elliott at the back up the righthand side of midfield, Freddie collected the ball who then attempted to pass the ball to Giacomo, who burst through the middle of the park to SLAM the ball into the back of the net, it was the reward that he deserved.
With the first half coming to an end the opposition had another chance to score and was once again stopped by Jack and Elliott who was now marshalling our defence brilliantly.
After the half time whistle went, I managed to get the boys to relax and calm down after discussing the penalty miss, it was a quick reminder that this game was not over and that we were to expect more of the same regarding the physical side of the game.
So the Sharks took to the field for the 2nd half and the team was full of confidence, and were determined to extend their lead and this dually came after some brave tackling in the middle of the park from Jack, Giacomo and Freddie. Freddie might be a slight lad but when the red mist descends there is no holding that boy back, and this was the case on this occasion. He broke the play up brilliantly and played a neat ball through for Giacomo who raced through on goal and smartly finished giving the keeper no chance.
With the game now getting away from the opposition, frustration was beginning to set in, and this lead to our next goal.
Liam was once again on the end of a crunching tackle which drew a free kick just meters away from the penalty box, this was within the range of Jack, and the way that he was striking the ball today I had no doubt that he was going to have a shot on goal. That is exactly what happened, he struck the shot very sweetly, and it raced towards the goal, the opposition goal keeper did very well in stopping the shot from distance, but only pushed the ball back out into play, and Giacomo’s reaction was fabulous, striking the ball on the volley to send the ball back into an unguarded net, this goal effectively finished the game as the oppositions heads dropped.
This enabled me to rotate some of the players once more, Jack by this time wasn’t 100% so I managed to take him off to give him a break, Jake retreated and played last man, with Elliott playing in the defensive role, with Aidan now playing on the right, Caleb on the left and Freddie up front.
With about 10minutes remaining we changed this up again, this time I was able to bring off Elliott, to give him a rest as he had put in a shift this afternoon and he also had been on the end of some solid challenges that were completely fair. With Jake now playing at the other end of the pitch he was doing a great job at keeping the opposition at bay, with Harry sitting in front of him, only on two occasions did the opposition manage to break our defensive line, but was brilliantly thwarted by Dylan. One with a great catch, and the other with a diving save at the oppositions feet. I really think that the goal keeper training is starting to bear some fruit and Dylan and the Sharks are benefiting from that. Also I can see a marked improvement with Dylan’s kicking from hand, it is covering more distance and giving the defence a chance to reclaim the ball and start attacks higher up the pitch.
With time drawing to a close the Sharks managed to score another goal, and this is the sweetest one on the all, the ball was played to Josh up the line from Jake, Josh let the ball run across his body and then he ran onto it, with his determination he managed to squeeze the ball to the on rushing Harry who evaded a challenge and then drove in to the box before slotting home for his first goal for the Sharks this season, it was nice to see that every player went to Harry and congratulated him after he scored.
With the final whistle blown, the Sharks had managed to keep a clean sheet and score a number of good goals against a strong team that we respected.
A massive well done to every single lad that played today, with each player giving a 100% and overcoming the physical side of the game, it is something that the Sharks are not shy of, but we do not come up against many teams that are able to compete with us in that way.
So thank you to all the parents that came out this afternoon, and supported the Sharks and myself. It is a pleasure watching these lads grow as people as well as football players.
So now onto next week and another challenge, but I know that every lad will be looking forward to it and let’s hope that we are able to continue our winning run.
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