Match Report

Stadium United 2 - 3 Dunton Dynamos

U11 Friendly - 24th February 2008

With no scheduled fixture this week, the decision was taken to arrange a friendly game against Stadium United. Being a newly-formed team, we've never played them before and therefore knew very little about their tactics, etc.

Once again, our preparations didn't get off to the best of starts with several key players unavailable - Liam still has a broken leg and was no-doubt cheering on his beloved Tottenham side in the Carling Cup Final, Harry was also at the Cup Final but was cheering on Chelsea, James was at his sister's Christening and Billy was at a birthday party. Team Captain Calum was injured and therefore also unavailable. We therefore only had nine regular players available plus Joseph who will be joining us next season (he's not eligible to join at present as he's too young).

So, Jordan deputised in goal, with Jack occupying his normal right-back position and Cameron in the left-back role. In the centre of defense we had Luke and Ben. In midfield, Joseph played his first game for us on the right-wing, with Sonny in his now familiar left-wing role. In the centre we had George and Ethan with Dave up-front on his own. Dave was captain for the first period.

The match itself was played on an overcast afternoon in late-February. The pitch was in good condition but the grass was a bit on the long side meaning this would make passing along the ground difficult. Stadium won the toss and elected to kick-off playing in their smart navy blue and red kit. Dunton were in their familiar all-white kit.

Straight from the kick-off, it became obvious the midfield was where this match would be won or lost. Both teams worked hard for early possession looking to gain the upper-hand. Ten minutes into the half, Stadium opened the scoring with a well taken goal following a well-timed pass through the centre of our defense which was expertly slotted home by the Stadium forward, giving Jordan no chance.

As we've come to expect from our plucky Dunton side, the ten men didn't let their heads drop. They hassled Stadium in the midfield and looked to be a yard quicker to the ball. This supremacy was rewarded with a well-taken goal by Sonny following excellent work by Dave. And that's the way it stayed until half-time.

In the second-half, the Captain's armband was handed to Sonny. The game opened up with both sets of players clearly tiring. Stadium worked hard to spring our offside trap but were continually thwarted by our back-four who worked extremely well together. Jack was having another solid game on the right side of defense and both Luke and Ben worked tirelessly to clear danger - this was the first time Luke had played in defense and once he settled in, he didn't look out of place. Ben has a fantastic "engine" and gave another truly magnificent performance. Cameron had an absolute blinder on the left-side and made several well timed challenges including a goal-line clearance with his head. He also looked to be more comfortable on the ball and made a number of super passes to Sonny, Ethan and George.

We continued to work hard in midfield and were eventually rewarded with a goal. Following a pass from Cameron to Sonny, he wriggled his way past a couple of defenders before slotting the ball home under the advancing keeper. He was now on a hat-trick!

Stadium too showed enormous spirit and worked hard to pull the game back. Ten minutes from time, they got a well-deserved equaliser. Following a goalmouth scramble, Dunton thought they'd cleared the ball, but a Stadium midfielder hit a sweetly struck shot towards goal which somehow slipped through our stand-in keeper's fingers into the bottom corner.

The game was set-up for a grandstand finish. Joseph got more and more involved in the second-half and linked up well with Ethan, Dave and George moving the ball sweetly down the right wing. And it was from this area of the park that Dunton struck to score their third goal. Following good work by George and Ethan, the ball was slipped through to Dave who rolled the ball on for Joseph to run onto. He neatly chipped the ball over the advancing keeper to give Dunton a well-deserved lead.

We were then on the back-foot defending as Stadium looked for an equaliser in the final minutes. Jordan was once again supremely confident in goal and came to claim a number of late crosses and corners. His kicking and general distribution were once again excellent - he makes an excellent stand-in for the injured Liam.

The referee ended the game with the ten-man Dunton team 3-2 victors. Dunton gave our hosts a rousing cheer at the end of the game as we knew they'd worked hard and put us under considerable pressure.

Man of the match today was Joseph who was the youngest player on the pitch and had the biggest player to mark! He scored a fantastic winning goal and made a valuable contribution to an excellent team performance. This was a great team performance with everyone working hard to win the game. Other players who stood out as working extra hard were Sonny who scored two super goals, Cameron who was solid at the back and linked up well with the midfield and Ben who chased absolutely every loose ball. Well done boys, we're all very proud of you!

Our thanks go to the Stadium United side for a great game. They're clearly a very well organised side with an excellent team spirit. We wish them well in their remaining fixtures this season.