Worcester City U10s vs Bustleholme U10s

Whilst on paper the result of today’s game looked one sided, it couldn’t have been further from the truth. The boys were fantastic and showed how far this team has come, and more importantly what is to come as we matched a tough Bustleholme throughout the contest.

William set the tempo in the first third as he played the ball out from the back calmly, spotting the space and setting up a number of attacks. What was pleasing to witness throughout was the desire to play, even under pressure, as the opposition employed a high press. Against similarly tough sides in the past we have found ourselves panicking a bit too much and forcing it. I felt today we could see how much the boys have developed since being in the JPL. That said we ended the first third one behind as one of their long range shots snuck under Austin and into the corner.

The team talk was easy; keep doing what they were doing. And to their credit I felt they even improved. They worked hard, battled hard, played some excellent football and created chances that on other days we would have buried (including a few 4 on 1s). Their coaches were worried and even complimented our boys at times with the football they played. A further error, from not attacking the ball, something that we seem not to take on board despite numerous sessions in training (if anyone has any thoughts for how we can work on this in training please do let the coaches know), arguably against the run of play meant we were two behind after the end of the second third.

The spirit and togetherness of the boys was evident at the interval as they all rallied around one of the lads who had made the mistake. We talked about the most important aspect of making a mistake is how you respond to them and this was evident in the final third.

It was usual service resumed as we again took the game to Bustleholme but couldn’t quite put the finishing touches to our play. We rolled the dice and went one at the back, which put us under a bit of pressure during goal kicks, but created chances at the other end. Chances came and went, including a rasping drive from Jack, but we just couldn’t score. A further error to allow them to score a third should not gloss over the fact that we were in this game throughout.

As we say to the lads every week, we are not that worried about results. They will come when they are older, for now it’s about development and playing the right way. On today’s evidence we are going to have a very strong side in years to come!

GOLD
Liam was fantastic today, full of trickery and powerful running. He linked up play brilliantly and put in an excellent performance.

SILVER
After a few weeks where this lad suffered with confidence issues, it was an absolute pleasure seeing him back to his old self. Well done Will!

BRONZE
Ryan battled hard and played some excellent passes, linking up well with his brother Liam.

See you all at training
The Coaches