12/10/2008 Wyke U7s v Honley - Match Report

12/10/2008

WykeU7s v Honley

Honley were the visitors on Sunday where two short games of five-a-side were played.

GAME 1

Wyke U7s 1 v 8 Honley A

It appeared from the outset that the Honley players were bigger and more experienced than the Wyke new-boys. Un-deterred, Wyke gave their all and showed that they are already learning from experience with players beginning to adopt more tactical positions rather than all of them chasing the ball.

FIRST HALF
In the opening minute, Owen Khan in goal was called upon to make the first of dozens of brilliant saves. He was helpless however to stop Honley taking an early lead in the game. Charlie Smith played well at the back and made several timely challenges to thwart the Honley attack. Connor Barran and Ethan Downey worked hard in midfield to support the defence and attack while Zachary Walsh was an ever present threat on the occasional break out. It was indeed Walsh who brought Wyke level midway through the first half when he latched on to a good through-ball from Downey. It was then cruel luck when Honley re-gained the lead soon after to go in to half-time with a 2-1 advantage.

HALF-TIME
Matthew Brumfitt, Sam Preston, Nathan Aylott and Lewis Evans came on for Smith, Barran, Downey and Walsh with Khan remaining in goal.

SECOND HALF
The boys didn’t know what hit them in the next five minutes when the ‘Honley Harrier Jet’ ran in a goal per minute to all but kill the game off. To their credit, the boys kept their heads up and slowly came back in to the game towards the end. Khan continued to make some fine saves to keep the score down. Evans made some great tackles to stop more shots raining in and Aylott and Preston never backed out of the challenges either. Brumfitt had only a few chances up front and was marshalled wide on each occasion by a strong Honley defender. Honley scored their eighth and final goal in the last minute but knew they had not had everything their own way against a very determined home side.

GAME 2

Wyke U7s 7 v 1 Honley B

This was more like it! The Honley B team players appeared from the touchline for the second game and this presented Wyke with the chance to win their first game of the season, which they did in style.

FIRST HALF
Khan was quickly in the game in the outfield this time and he soon made a thrusting run through the defence but saw his shot well saved by the new keeper. Brumfitt then tried his luck with a couple of mazy runs but again his shots were too close to the keeper. Then against the run of play, Honley took a shock lead when a break out left Barran, in goal, with no chance of stopping a great shot which flew in to the roof of the net. Wyke were soon back on level terms however, when Khan made another decisive break from midfield and this time he left the keeper stranded as the net bulged for the home side. Wyke continued to push forward and were gaining in confidence against a Honley team who were looking a little stand-offish. Khan saw a shot roll narrowly wide before Aylott passed to Brumfitt and his shot on the run was well saved. Seconds later and it was the same again with Brumfitt again finding the keeper in good form. Khan had another solo run next and saw his shot go wide. Wyke finally took the lead towards the end of the half when Smith played a great ball down the line to Khan, who cut inside and placed a brilliant shot in to the far corner. Khan was unlucky not to get his hat-trick soon after when his run and shot was well held by the keeper. At the other end, Barran made a good save on the stroke of half-time to ensure Wyke took a 2-1 lead in to the break.

HALF-TIME
Walsh, Downey, Preston and Evans replaced Khan, Smith, Brumfitt and Aylott with Barran continuing in goal.

SECOND HALF
Good early work from Downey to get the ball in to the box created panic in the Honley defence and from the resulting scramble, Walsh was able to knock the ball over the line to bring up Wyke’s third goal. Downey then tried his own shot after another good run but found the keepers safe hands. The fourth goal came quickly though when Evans made a great break and fed a beautiful pass to Walsh who ran on and powered in an un-stoppable shot. Evans then passed to Walsh again and this time he tried a long range effort which unfortunately went wide. Next, Walsh had a solo run and shot which brought another good save from the busy Honley keeper. He was however helpless soon after when Walsh again broke free and neatly tucked the ball in to the net for a superb hat-trick. Then Evans, playing strongly at the back, stepped out of defence and played a lovely pass to Downey who ran through to blast the ball home and follow-up with a ‘Channon-esk’ celebration to entertain the crowd. Walsh then had another run and shot which was saved. Wyke scored their seventh and last goal when Barran made a good save and quickly dispensed a long punt down-field for the un-marked Walsh to finish in style. There was still enough time left for Evans to make a run and see his shot deflected wide whilst Walsh had a shot saved with the last throw of the dice.

It was a tremendous display from the new group of boys and will hopefully be the first of many victories this season. All nine players deserved the applause at the final whistle and were rightly over-the-moon with the rewards of their efforts.