Evergreen Juniors vs St. Albans
(19th Feb)
This high scoring match began fairly evenly with few scoring opportunities early on as West started slowly, however after twelve minutes Scott Howlett gave them the lead. Soon after there were opportunities to extend it, but another Scott shot went over the bar, while Chris Welch was though in a one on one vs. the Evergreen keeper who won the battle. Shortly after, a cleared ball on the edge on their area was met by Charlie Craigen whose shot hit the cross-bar, while a good one-two between Charlie and Matt Peckham resulted in Matt shooting just wide.
West finally added to their lead following a cross from the left by Elliott Jay, as an Evergreen defender under pressure by Matt could only clear the ball into the back if his own net. Soon after, Matt and Elliott reversed roles as a good cross from Matt was headed just over by Elliott. Just before the break Evergreen got a goal back as West failed to clear the ball and an Evergreen player scored to make it 2-1 at half time.
The second half began much as the first half
had ended with West dominating but failing to take the most of the
opportunities that came their way. A great run down the left wing from
Elliott was crossed into the area but the resulting shot from Scott was
saved, while Elliott himself had a shot saved after good work by Scott.
West soon found the net again though as Jamie Heaffey fed Matt who made it
3-1, and then a free-kick from George Figg was stopped on the line only for
Chris to pounce first and make it 4-1. West were not having it all
their own way though and Evergreen hit back immediately to make it 4-2, but
West continued to create more chances and soon after a great right foot shot
from Scott made it 5-2 despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball.
The goals continued at both ends as a Matt
cross was tapped in by Ross Whinnett, but some sloppy defending then allowed
Evergreen to score again to make it 6-3. West continued to press forward
though and scored three goals in the final few minutes as a parried shot
from Jack Siberry was met by Ross for his second of the match, while Scott
got another after rounding the keeper and scoring. In the last minute
Matt finished things off to make it 9-3 at the final whistle.
While the score line highlighted the dominance of the U13 West team, they certainly made hard work of it, as better finishing could have seen them score well over a dozen goals, however the team did pass the ball well, especially down the wings which helped create plenty of scoring opportunities.
Final Score: Evergreen Juniors 3 - 9 St. Albans
Joint Man of the Match: Ryan Maher, Matt Peckham and Ryan Rickard