Last Draw 9th August 2010
“Almost reached the Stars but left feeling the Blues”
In under 8′s yellow division terms, this was a heavyweight contest. In the blue corner, a Blue Star team who had won 10 out of 12. In the red (or Maroon) corner, a Langho team who had won 10 out of 12. Something had to give, what was it going to be?
Unfortunately lady luck wasn’t with the Maroons today. A game that we dominated for long periods, was snatched from us with 8 seconds to go. The midfield duo of Joseph and Oliver were as strong as I have seen them this season. This led to the Maroons pushing forward hard in the first half. However it proved to be our downfall, as a Maroons corner was caught by the Blue Star keeper, who launched a long ball down the middle. This wasn’t dealt with by our defence and a great run and super finish put us one behind going into the break.
Half time Jaffa cakes again worked their magic. Sol on for Liam who were both solid at the back, alongside the always impressive Sam.The Maroons responded with a superb second half performance. We totally dominated the first period of the second half. Goals followed from Dominic and a beautiful finish from Paul, gave us a well deserved lead. After this, we created a lot of chances, but couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. A massive chance fell to Dominic who somehow missed his kick with the goal at his mercy. But we were so in control at this stage, it didn’t feel like we would need a third to secure victory.
How wrong we were. The Blue Star team made even more substitutions (14 players turned up to play), and fresh legs decided the game. A strong run from midfield saw Blue Star force their way towards the Maroons penalty area. A push from Joseph led to a free kick right on the edge of our penalty area. The shot flew just wide, but gave Blue Star the momentum to force an equaliser shortly afterwards.
Only a few minutes to go, with the scores level, Blue Star came forward again and a 50-50 ball between the centre forward and George, was just won by the forward and gave Blue Star their third. George getting hurt allowed me to come onto the pitch. A cheeky glance at the referees watch saw 8 seconds to go. Not enough time to turn a fine performance into the rewards we deserved. It has to be said that the opposition were well organised and taught us a lesson in finishing. Full credit to them.
In summary we worked our socks off. But that’s football. Special mention to Joseph and Paul, who were superb today. Proud to be part of this team – well done everyone.
M.O.M. George – first this season – well done.
Team: George,Sam,Liam,Oliver,Joseph,Dominic,Paul,Sol.