Just before I get into the report I'd just like to call out
last nights (Friday's) training. I know it was the last day of term for the
boys and excitement was high, but myself and Darren had an uphill battle with
most of the boys in terms of behaviour and applying themselves to what we
wanted them to do. To be honest two thirds of what I had planned had to be
discarded as instead I had to go back to some of the basics in order to regain
and maintain control of the session. We are heading towards the latter part of
the season now and the boys should really be behaving much better so obviously
I was disappointed. Can I ask that you please feed this back to your boys and
ask (again) that they come to these sessions with focus and willingness to
learn. Can I also ask that, where possible, for at least the next session that
we have some greater parental presence as this may help to reinforce the
messages that we are trying to ingrain, particularly if they are asked to step
out for 5 minutes (it means to them that you get to see them being told off
which can in some cases act as an additional deterrent).
To the match today (Saturday); I really don't know what it
is about Upton, but when we play there the weather is always horrible. We coped
with it marginally better this time round, but clearly still some work to do.
We started really well, being really positive with the ball when going forward
and on the odd (and I mean odd) occasion that the ball got past Harry, some key
saves were made by Jack Broadhurst (Jack Br) again helping the team settle and
becoming calm and composed at the beginning of the match. A few chances either
end, but overall very neutral; End Q1: Upton 0 - Arrows 0.
Q2 was again end to end, and it was unfortunate that to be
honest the two major breaks that Upton had resulted in goals for them; both
were through congested areas in front of goal which hampered our goal keeper
seeing the ball until it was too late. We should of closed these balls and
chances down much further down the pitch. We had one or two efforts, on in
particular was a great half-volley from Jack Br, who was now playing outfield,
that was only inches over the crossbar, but ultimately the period ended Q2:
Upton 2 - Arrows 0.
Q3 started after a refocusing the boys in terms of getting
their heads back up. They went out and took the game back to Upton, we had lots
of chances but just couldn't put the ball away, until midway through the
quarter the ball broke, Jack Br went through a few Upton boys and slotted it
calmly home. Unfortunately it wasn't long after that that we conceded another
through a fortuitous strike from a third of the pitch out by Upton, that just
went straight past our keeper. However, reinforcing just how much of a good
battling game this was, within minutes of kick-off, we were breaking forward,
and this time Jack Binns, who had been threatening whenever in his Left Wing
Back role belted it past the Upton keeper to take us to a goal behind. In the
dying seconds of the quarter though, after a good corner from Upton, the ball
bounced badly between two of our players and it bobbled in as an own goal to
take us to an end of quarter score of Upton 4 - Arrows 2.
The final quarter was very similar to the first in that we were playing some great football but where getting hit by a wall of Upton players and we found it very difficult to get through them; the majority of chances fell our way but we were just wide on each occasion to make up the scoreline. End of Q4 and the match: Upton 4 - Arrows 2.
Thinking about the game afterwards, we have shown again that
we are making progress; although we beat Upton last time, that was on astro at
Goals and we are still relearning the difference with the game on grass, but for
a real comparison we lost on this same pitch 11-3 in November last year so we
have taken massive inroads in-between that period. There is clearly lots more
to do and I a have several plans, all of which will be sent out over the next
few weeks as we start to think about next season.
I'd like to pay special thanks to Henry who was our Captain
today. Henry was one of the few boys that paid attention and did his best in
training on Friday and he was like a sniper in front of goal during practice.
He made a real effort to make a difference today, so thank you Henry.
Man of the Match came down to two boys today, it was
extremely close, but ultimately it went to Jack Broadhurst for his first MotM
due to his great goalkeeping in the first quarter, his great goal in the third
and general all round positive performance - he really kept his head up for the
entire match and it was great to see. Jack will therefore be my Captain against
Blacon next weekend - squad to be announced shortly.
As implied, you'll see one or two emails coming shortly regarding
the squad for next weekend and also availability for extra training, initially
over the next two Wednesdays - please look out for these and let me know your
thoughts.
Thanks all.
Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows07896 515717
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