Droitwich Spa Bullets vs Colts U12s (13/09/20)

A balmy Sunday afternoon in Droitwich saw Colts enjoy their first away league encounter of the 20-21 season against Droitwich Spa Bullets. Manager Stephen Coopey elected to go with a 4-3-1 formation with Cam Elton in Goal, Ollie Beale, Conner James, Dyl Sivaharan and James Glazzard at the back, Nath Box, George Heywood and Oliver Bousfield in the middle and Harry Davies up front.
Playing down the slope in the first half, Colts were soon on the front foot with Ollie Beale in particular looking lively down the right flank, linking up with Nathan Box and providing a penetrative edge that was great to see early in the game. In an even opening, Bullets provided some bright moments of their own, and the first real chance went to the home side when a snapshot cannoned back off the bar with Cam beaten. The Colts keeper was kept moderately busy throughout and had to be quick off of his line on several occasions to keep the scores level. As the half wore on, Colts started to gain more of a foothold in midfield, using the flanks in particular to make inroads into a stubborn Bullets defence. James Glazzard, looking more assured with every game, linked up well with Oliver Bousfield on the left wing; after a quiet start George Heywood started to get foot-on-ball and the tireless running of Harry Davies was starting to create gaps in the Bullets defensive line. With time ticking down at the end of the half, a clumsy challenge on Harry Davies resulted in a free kick on the edge of the box. Freshly-introduced Dead-ball specialist Josh Coopey stepped up and lofted a sublime spot kick into the far corner to open the scoring and ensure that Colts took a lead into the break.
With the cloying heat starting to take its’ toll, Manager Coopey shuffled his pack and rearranged formation at half time. Colts therefore switched to a 3-4-1 formation in order to assure more possession in midfield. Clarke, Perks and Fisher entered the fray for Davies, Glazzard and Box. Conner James switched from defence to striker and Sivaharan slotted into midfield alongside Heywood.
The new look back 3 of Clarke, Fisher and Beale were largely untroubled during the first phase of the second half as Sivaharan and Heywood took a grip of midfield and ensured that the second half was a more controlled affair for Colts. Within 4 minutes of the restart Heywood forced an opening and struck a blistering shot that the Bullets keeper could only parry into the path of James who slotted home to double the lead. Colts continued to dominate possession in the heat, with Bullets offering the occasional counter-attack down the slope that was comfortably mopped up by the defensive trio. Zach Johnson came on for a tiring Conner James and Glazzard rejoined the fray at centre-back to shore things up as the heat really began to affect players on both sides. Johnson almost opened his Colts account but was denied by a double-save, however on 46 minutes Josh Coopey made the result safe for Colts, slamming home a loose ball to make it 3-0 after some tenacious work by Perks on the left. Colts continued to work hard despite their 3-goal cushion and each time Bullets launched an attack of their own it was comfortably mopped up by Fisher, Clarke and Glazzard. With 5-minutes left on the clock, some more positive running from Heywood saw the ball break to Bousfield who drilled the ball home to cap a solid display from the visitors and open his account for Colts.
In summary this was a good display in testing conditions and the team will look to build on this positive result in the upcoming matches.
Players Man-of-the-match went to Ollie Beale
Managers Man-of-the-match went to Josh Coopey.