GEDLING SOUTHBANK U10 RED v ARNOLD TOWN U10 MAROON
Firstly the good news of the day which started with the letter coming through the door, promptly delivered by the Royal Mail. The latest application for funding from the Royal Mail had been accepted and we have £650 to spend on new goals for Carlton-Le-Willows. What a great start to the day.
Unfortunately that was the highlight of the day as GSB U10 Red team hosted newly promoted Arnold Town U10 Maroon team.
GSB kicked the game off with the wind but unfortunately lost the ball after about 2 seconds and this proved to be very much a pattern of how the game went.
Arnold scored first after 4 minutes when they pinched the ball from a goal kick, crossed it into the centre and scored an open goal. GSB just didn’t seem to be able to find their rhythm today and just seemed to be a little bit slower and smaller than the opposition. This was a great learning experience for the boys as the movement up front for Arnold was very good and on too many occasions our players were guilty of ball watching and ignoring opposition players who were in acres of space.
Arnold scored once more mid way through the first half when GSB cleared a corner but unfortunately gave the ball straight back to Arnold who simply shot into the back of the net from just inside the penalty area.
GSB did manage to pull one back just before the break when Billy ‘The Salmon’ Housden came into the centre of midfield, played an excellent through ball to Ben ‘Mozza’ Morris, who delightfully flicked the ball past the keeper into the back of the net.
Half Time: GSB U10 Red 1 Arnold Town Maroon 2
The second half saw Arnold Town have the wind and dominated most of the half. However GSB did have a couple of chances with Carter ‘Pates’ Pateman, our top scorer just having one of those days when he missed a one on one chance after being put clean through by Mozza and then when presented with the ball by the Arnold goalkeeper from a goal kick, promptly put the ball wide of the open goal – this summed GSB day up.
Arnold did add another goal after a scramble in the goal mouth which GSB failed to deal with but overall on the balance of play a bigger and at times better Arnold team deserved the 3 points.
This game should be seen by the players as a great learning opportunity because they have never had to deal with situations like this before and I am very confident over the coming months and years this will help them improve massively.
Final Score: GSB U10 Red 1 Arnold Town Maroon 3
Man of the Match: Ben Morris. His finish for the goal was excellent, he played a great through ball to Pates and at one point in the first half danced his way round a couple of players which was great to see – more of the same next time Ben & well done.
