BGS U13A vs Scarisbrick Hall School.

The boys came into this fixture on the back of a four-game winning streak and were brimming with confidence especially after victory over AKS Lytham and having trained so well only days before.

Surprisingly we looked disjointed in the opening minutes and lacked composure on the ball. Scarisbrick took advantage scoring from a corner, via a quick game of ping-pong-ricochet in the box, were we contributed greatly to going 0-1 down.

Thankfully, we were able to reset, refocus and start to compete. It wasn’t a flowing game of football and in order to have any success, we had to role our sleeves up and compete for every ball. Jack Baldwin took the game by the scruff of the neck and started to spray the football into dangerous areas. His teammates followed suit and from there on in we had a platform to build from.

Indio Honor brought it back to 1-1, mixing resilience and skill to win the ball in the opponent’s box, and then to fire home from around 12 yards out.

Half time 1-1.

The message at the break was to relax in possession. Don’t be in a rush to get rid of the football. However, in the final third, make it count – be ruthless.

Within minutes of the restart, Henry Cooper delivered a delicious and detailed cross into the box from which the defender scored an own goal. This was a great moment because in the first half, in a similar position, Henry declined to cross the ball and was quickly robbed of possession by two defenders.

2-1.

We had many more chances to score, and we largely controlled possession, but it wasn’t until the last 5 minutes that we put the game to bed.

The ball started out on the left wing with Henry Cooper. Henry played inside to Lewis Chingwaro, who beat two players and played a fantastic ball out to Seb Tabano, Seb took one touch to control the ball and a second touch to play in the overlapping Jack Baldwin. Jack steadied himself before unleashing a powerful finish.

Full time, 3-1.