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U14 XI Notices

U14 'A' XI : 03 May 2010 v Canterbury

Home Counties Mercian League - Semi Final

A bit of a dull day was completely eradicated by the intensity of the of this high tempo game.  From the first hit, WHC went straight on the attack.  Canterbury were under pressure but defended well.  Canterbury overturned an attack and sent the ball long to be picked up by their right wing who took the ball to the D, a shot on goal, poorly defended with a stick tackle, deemed deliberate by the umpire, P Flick for Canterbury.  Tense moment, Liam Sanford called WHC to a huddle whilst Joe Carey made ready in the goal.  A predicted (By WHC U14A Umpire Marco Parmegiani) high and to the left shot from Canterbury was saved by Joe.  A series of attack / counter attack resulted in two alternate short corners for both teams, all taken well but defended well and the score line stayed at 0-0.  Jas Grewal had an excellent reverse stick strike to the goal which was saved but pushed straight back to him and then sent over the crossbar on the second shot.  Another short corner, well defended by Canterbury saw them break away down the right.  WHC defence of the “Triangle” through delay and channel saw Liam get back to tackle the attacking Canterbury player which gave away a free hit.  Liam not deemed 5 yards (Repeatedly) led to a green card for Liam.  (Editor’s Note: no fines in the U14 Squad – phew!)  Half time and 0 – 0, but both teams were attack, counter attack and it was a nervous time for Coach, Umpire and Manager.

Half time talk, all positive and inspiring!  From the start of the whistle, WHC turned up the burners, full throttle attack, countered by Canterbury but consistently WHC were in the driving seat.  Canterbury gained a short corner, defended well and a breakout attack from Liam, saw him slice through the Canterbury mid field, one/two with Jas and then on the edge of the D took a reverse to the bottom right corner of the net just above the backboard, GOAL!  The excitement on the sidelines was awesome, crowds of WHC supporters cheering and I managed to catch Marco in full leap as we celebrated too.  Canterbury recovered their composure and applied a lot of pressure from this point on.  WHC were forced to defend and defend they did.  Several counter attacks were made by WHC but Canterbury’s onslaught was persistent.  In one attack by Canterbury, Liam received his second Green Card (Really glad there are no fines in the U14).  WHC recomposed themselves and settled down and kept the Canterbury players at bay, a Green Card was issued to the opposition in the closing minutes as the pressure grew for Canterbury to pull one back.  A short corner was awarded to WHC and again was defended well by Canterbury, who then made a break attack only for the final whistle to blow.  A real nail biting game where WHC gave their all and really had all their supporters on the edge of their seats.  Final score 1 – 0 to WHC and we earnt our place in the final.

Goal Scorers

Liam Sanford                         1