RECREATION GROUND | BROOKBURN ROAD | CHORLTON | M21 8FE

 

Junior Round-Up | 11th – 12th September – West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC

Junior Round-Up | 11th – 12th September

WD&C U11 Harriers v Broadheath Central U11 Boca

New year and new rules as we discovered to our cost as the goalkeeper gathered the ball from a back-pass and the Boca scored from the resulting indirect freekick. The Harriers first goal was as good as in the net before kick-off when the manager received one of his visions – a threaded through ball from Digby for the striker to run onto and stick in the net. It was a great ball from Digby but an even better finish from Jacob who, pressured out wide to the right by the pursuing defender, pulled the trigger at the last moment to slip the ball under the goalie and into the far corner. Boca got another one before half time but the Harriers rallied in the second half and Ollie, playing as a false 9, twice found himself released with only the goalkeeper to beat. The Boca goalie stayed up well to the first shot but on the second the pressure told and the ball found the back of the net. Player of the match was a difficult one with new boys Paulie and Abbas giving eye-catching performances and Jacob with his quality finish, but in the end it has to go to Max P for a stunning double save which had his team-mates running toward him in celebration.

PoM: Max P

North Trafford Athletic U11 Tigers v WD&C Hawks

A depleted Hawks team took the pitch with only 7 players. Two more arrived thoroughly warmed up after running the length of Longford Park but Hawks were disjointed and second best in the 1st half.  But Hawks stormed back in the 2nd half with Sam running the midfield and Abu Bakr strong in defence. After complaining about being asked to play up front Luca G crashed home from distance to start the comeback. In a dramatic finale, Hawks threw everyone including keeper Luca B into the box for a final corner but Tigers scrambled the ball away and broke away to seal the win.

WD&C U12 Kestrels v Lymm Rovers U12 Predators 4-0

What a start to the season! Kestrels stepped out looking fresh at Hardy Farm for their first ever Sunday fixture. The boys had the summer off from training and we only managed to squeeze in three training sessions before the season kicked off.

Facing an opponent we have met on the pitch twice before, we thought we knew what we were up against. But Predators turned up with half a new squad and a very different attitude. The game was end-to-end and the tackles were evenly matched. Both teams were feeling both the enjoyment of doing what they love again, and also the pressure to find a way through to the box. Kestrels put into action their passing practice from the previous training session and were rewarded by being first on the scorecard with a superb shot from Jude, assisted by Fred in the 19th minute. Predators made some changes to try and counter but they couldn’t break through our defence. The first half ended 1-0

We made some half time changes and started strong with Elliot pushing through from defence, followed by a quick accurate shot from Benjamin in the 33rd minute. 2-0. The boys were frustrating the Predators and tempers flared, but Kestrels stood their ground and looked out for each other. We saw two more goals for us in the second half, both from free kicks. James scored an absolute screamer from 5 yards outside the box at 37 minutes. Quickly followed by Jude putting in a magical curling shot over the keeper from the left at 41 minutes.

The boys had an absolute blast playing together again. We had some amazing performances from all of them.

PoM: Jude, who played in midfield and was all over the action for the whole game and we just can’t ignore the curve on his free kick!

Stretford Victoria v WD&C U14 1-2

West maintained their 100% start to the season with an excellent hard-fought win against Stretford Victoria.

In a classic game of two halves, West came out 2-1 winners with goals from George and Isaac.

But there had only looked like one winner in the first half as a strong, physical Stretford team dominated and West struggled with long through balls.

There was a warning in the opening minutes with the Stretford striker racing clear but he dragged his shot wide. Time and again the Stretford forward line latched onto balls over the top.

They finally got the deserved breakthrough midway through the half as another long ball sent the striker away, but although Cameron snuffed out the initial threat the ball was  crossed back in for a neat dinked finish.

Apart from a couple of long range efforts West were struggling to offer any threat to the Stretford goal.

Stretford were winning the 50-50 challenges and loose balls, and it was a relief when half-time came with the score line still at 1-0 – especially after a late corner struck the West post after glancing off a defender’s head.

But West were rejuvenated in the second half. Suddenly they were winning the physical battles and began to offer real threat up front.

Yaseen’s pace was causing problems and after one opportunity was stopped by a brave save from the Stretford keeper, he fired another chance over the bar.

All over the park West were quicker to the ball, with Jacob H and Cameron providing defensive foundations, William and Ted linking up well on the right, and Tom and Isaac driving through midfield – it was a completely different team to the first half.

And West finally got a deserved equaliser as Ted pirouetted past his marker and found Yaseen with an excellent cross. Yaseen’s strike was well saved but George was there to tap in.

Kenta, George and Tom all went close, before West took the lead. It came from player of the match Isaac as he lofted an excellent free kick over the keeper.

Stretford came to life but a combination of completely committed tackling by West and time ticking away meant it was too little too late.

A hugely impressive second half by every player and their celebrations at the final whistle showed how much it meant to them.

Well done boys!

Goals: George, Isaac
PoM: Isaac

Cheadle & Gatley Tornadoes v WD&C Magpies 4-17

U16 Magpies continued their barnstorming start to life in a lower division with another goal fest at the Old Bedians ground. A scene familiar with odd shaped balls, the scoreline threatened to mirror that of it’s Rugby playing cousin. The first half featured a variety of goals that saw the Magpies display their full repertoire of attacking skill. Tyler was pretty unplayable all day as he raced to an early brace of goals, only for C&G to peg us back to 1-2. Our 2nd was a particular managers delight with an overlapping full back, cross and poachers finish.

After 30 minutes, Tyler had bagged his 2nd hatrick in 2 games, but we couldn’t shake the opposition off as they came back at us twice to trail 2-4 @ HT (Tyler with all 4!). In a game of 2 halves, you could be forgiven for not predicting what unfolded over the next 40 mins. Having got back in the game at 3-4, a tiring Cheadle outfit, used to being hammered last season, surrendered meekly to our rapier like raids which yielded goals at almost every attack.

The highlights reel would feature a Fernandez-like top bins effort from Josh, a Brazilian piece of magic from a Zeno free kick, and multiple Bolt-like bursts from a turbo charged Adeyo.

We offered to remove a player as the seemingly downhill sloped pitch and giant goal gobbled goal after goal, but the opposing coach declined. Final score 4-17
We’ve scored more goals in 2 games than we scored all season. Our search for a keeper goes on, but our run of spoiling the day for other keepers goes on.

Goals: Tyler (6), Adeyo (4), Zeno (5), Josh, Albarra
PoM: Tyler. Double hat tricks are hard to ignore, but his all round game was 1st class and too hot to handle. A one man Tornado that showed the home team what force they have the damage they can cause.