Unlucky Whites miss out in thriller

11/9/10
Saturday U12's Division 1
Dunkirk Colts 4 Hucknall Sports 1

Unlucky Whites miss out in thriller

A trip to treble winners Dunkirk was Hucknall's reward for winning League 2 last season. The Ron Steele Sports Ground was busy as ever but eventually the mini soccer finished and Sports first game in Division One got underway.

Colts started confidently and good work out wide resulted in them taking the lead after 5 mins when the ball loop up high over Whites keepers head. Sports needed to steady themselves and so they did by putting in a massive amount of work from the front to the back. Gradually, they started to win the midfield battle and chances started to appear as a result. New signing Buckly Brown was unlucky not to score after good work from his midfield colleagues provided him with the opportunity to shoot but the ball went narrowly wide. However, soon after, the same player made no mistake and slotted the ball in the net to get Sports back into the game and level the score. Dante Diriso demonstrated how much he has improved over the last 6 months and his composure on the ball allowed him to create space under pressure that resulted in great passing and shots on goal. In the final minutes of the half a short corner from Sports was intercepted and from the break away, and against the run of play, Colts broke forward and punished Sports for not clearing the ball by snatching back the lead to go into the break leading 2-1.

Half time: Dunkirk Colts 2 Hucknall Sports 1

Playing down the slope and with the wind at their backs it was obvious that Colts would look to play ball over the top but Sports defence held out well and played as a unit to catch Dunkirk off-side time and again. Strong work in midfield, particularly from Captain Jarrod Davies, provided the platform for Sports to mount attacks. Colts defence had to be on their toes and made a series of last ditch tackles and saves to deny striker James Hallam. Appeals for a Sports penalty were waved away when it seemed that Hallam's leg had been taken from under him. Colts cruelly went further into the lead after another deflection off of a Sports player found its way into the net and in the final minute Colts sealed victory with a well taken free-kick but the referee might have stopped play earlier had he seen a foul on Sport Keeper Kal Orton.

Final score: Dunkirk Colts 4 Hucknall Sports 1

The score does not tell the full story of the game and realistically it was more like a 2-1 game. Sports battled really well but paid the price for trying to play football in defence when putting the ball out of play might have been a safer option. That said, the boys deserve a massive amount of credit for giving last season Champions a real fright and with a little bit of luck might have got something out of this game.

Difficult to choose an outright Man of the Match in today's game when everyone put in so much effort to try and get a result for Sports. But a confident and skilful performance from Dante Diriso on the left and right won today's long over due award - well done Dante and we look forward to you having a great season.

First game of the new season tomorrow. Boys are playing last season Division One Champions so it will be an interesting day no doubt. Watch this space for the match result.
Warmed up by playing a local Derby against Hucknall Harriers. All a bit wierd as 5 boys play for both teams so it was difficult to read too much into the game.
Lost 5-2 in the end, but much better performance in the second half were we won 2-1.

Ratby friendly

Played Leicester League and Cup Winners Ratby this weekend and narrowly missed out on a deserved draw with a disallowed goal in the last seconds of the game.
Ratby are clearly a well organised and talented team and with the half time score at 4-0 I was wondering what we needed to do to get into this game. Fortunately, the match turned out to be a classic game of 'two halves' and we scored three in the second half with the opposition unable to increase their lead at all.
Good performances from all the team, in particuarly Harry Saxton who had the best game I had seen him play for a while and he looked in great shape with a commanding performance in the heart of defence.
We played good possession football from the back to the front, but need to learn to assess the options rather than taking my coaching instructions too literally. Also, need to play as a team and support our team mates when they are struggling to find a person to pass to.
All in all a good run out for next season.
This weekend we have our last tournament of the Summer and with most boys away over the bank holiday weekend we will only be taking a very small squad.

Entered three tournament this summer and lost in semi-finals of them all - bummer!!!
Boys playing well at the moment and squad is just about complete for the start of the season. Looking forward to new midfield and left-back signings having a great season and the rest of the boys progressing from where they left off.
Friendly this weekend with Ratby, a team who beat us 3-1 last time out - will be interesting to see if we have improved.

Soccer Tournament

This weekend we have entered two teams into our own soccer tournament. The weather has been brilliant recently, but sods law says that it will rain all weekend just to spoil our fun. Need to decide which team to put into the older age group. On the one hand we are strong enough to win either age group possibly but on the other it might be better to play against teams we are due to face next season.

Great effort by all the boys at this weekends soccer tournament. Unbeaten in the League games, but unfortunately lost in the semi-finals.
All boys have re-signed for the team and new signing are looking great.
Friendly this saturday and tournament the following week.
Life is never dull.

24/4/10

Saturday U11's Division 2

Radcliffe Olympic 4 Hucknall Sports White 3

Unbeaten run comes to an end

Five weeks after clinching the league title Hucknall travelled to Radcliffe for the penultimate game of the season looking to preserve their unbeaten record but despite a fantastic second half fight back Sports left things too late and lost the game 4-3.

Radcliffe's early well taken goals in the first half rocked Hucknall to the core and unbelievably the Champions heads dropped and all confidence ebbed away. Sports had their chances to get on the score sheet but looked tentative in front of goal and often looked to take an extra touch with the goal at their mercy. But this should nothing aware from a great lesson in football from Olympic who played as a team despite having nothing to gain from winning the game.

Injury to Oliver Bowley saw Tyler Johnstone entered into the action but a frustrating first half for Sports came to a close with Radcliffe seizing on a misplaced goal kick to score their third goal and make the score 3-0 at half-time and leave Hucknall with a mountain to climb.

Half time: Radcliffe Olympic 3 Hucknall Sports White 0

Playing downhill and with the wind at their backs in the second half Hucknall galvanised themselves for 30 minutes of hard work to try and get back into the game and an early goal from the combative Jarrod Davies looked like the perfect start. But Radcliffe hit back with a well taken goal directly from a free kick and could have made the score 5-1 had they not missed from the penalty spot. Sports showed flickers of form and a fabulous goal from Jacob Barlow was followed up by a scrambled goal from Ryan Towle to see Hucknall in the ascendancy with the clock ticking down. A last gasp shot from Davies narrowly sailed agonisingly over the cross-bar and the game was done.

Sports unbeaten record was gone and Radcliffe celebrated a well won victory.

Final score: Radcliffe Olympic 4 Hucknall Sports White 3

For the neutral this was a great game, but for Sports Management this was a nightmare. Too many times Hucknall were second to the ball and guilty of arguing amongst themselves rather than trying to pull together and win the game.

This should not detract from what has been a fantastic season for Sports, but hopefully it will serve as reminder that, whether you like it or not, football is a team game and you must all pull together in order to win.

The outright winner for Sports Man of the Match award was Dylan Smith, although a special mention should go to one of this seasons most improved players Joe Newton for trying his best to rally the troops. But when all around him were losing there heads Dylan Smith stayed calm and collected and set an example that others would do well to follow.