We had a another lovely sunny morning and at least one referee stripped down to his polo shirt! I must also say that the reseeding work that was done over the summer has provided us with lovely grassy surfaces.
Training: The new warm-up routines seem to be working out very well. The kids seem to find it easier to focus and more coaches are able to get involved. Do try to be on time as we are trying to do valuable developmental work in this phase.
The B squad had no game today.
Harrow Games 1 v 3 RR U9C (HT 0 v 1)
We played some excellent attacking football today and would have had more goals if our finishing was better (left feet).
But, we dominated the game from the start and showed good touches on the tricky Astro turf pitch.
The result was never in doubt and the boys continue to play very well as a team. Well done!
- Man of the match: Charlie A settled in very well and wins the award this week for his commanding display as a ball playing defender in the first half. Great composure and always looking to start attacks off with an intelligent pass. He just pipped Saul who played very well on the left side of midfield beating his opponent every time. [Well done to new boy, Charlie. Ed.]
- Tackle Monster: hard to single out an individual this week as today ‘attack was the best form of defence’.
- Pass Master: Amrit, for his great, intelligent, unselfish range of passes throughout.
- Match Squad: Cody (GK, 1st half), Harry P, Saul, Charlie A, Cormac, Charlie E, Amrit(c), Jensen, Jayden, Simon
- Goal scorers: Simon 1, Jayden 1, Jensen 1.
- Assists: Amrit, Jayden
(Second half keepers Harry P, Saul).
RR U9A 2 – 2 TFA Totteridge A
This was probably our best performance in an opening match since we started playing league football. We led for most of the match, went behind, and gradually got back into the game for a deserved equalized. Both sides hit the woodwork and their keepers made outstanding saves in a very entertaining match.
Goals: Billy Joyce, Daniel Bampoe-Addo
Assist: Harry Grundy:
Moment of the match: a ‘how did he do that’ save by Luke – Rocket Man – Finnegan in the opening minutes that set us up for a great performance.
- Tackle monster: several contenders – Carlow deserves a mention for tackles in the battle of the speedsters with an ex-RR player – but Daniel Bampoe-Addo gets it for the tackle that led to the equalizer (in addition to all the others).
- Pass master: Matthew, Harry and Leo all made some great passes but for those when we went behind, it has to be Daniel Bampoe-Addo.
- Man of the match: Daniel Bampoe-Addo, for composure beyond his years, silky passing, and his determination in getting the equalizer.
- Match squad: Luke, Daniel, Carlow, Harry (c), Billy, Matthew, Brian, Leo
- Referee: Andy Foyston, superb as usual.
Thank you to the dads and mum for assembling both sets of goals today.
RR Diamonds 2 – 4 St Lawrence
We don’t have a report but it was played on a neighbouring pitch to the A squad game and I can try to offer some impressions. Note that our boys were once again playing an A squad. In fact, 7 of the 10 teams admitted to the sixth of eight divisions are A squads, including big clubs like Belmont and Hillingdon. So we have the highest ranked D squad in the entire league and they will get some really good challenges over the next few weeks.
The game today was very noisy. There was a lot of parental excitement, including a big cheer late in the first half from the St Lawrence parents when they got a goal late in the first half. So it was quite close and our Diamonds matched the other side for most of the game and made some good chances. Whenever I glanced over, it seemed to be the Ruislip team that was attacking. I heard later that it was 3-2 until the last minute when St Lawrence got a fortunate goal. More big hearted performances like this will really help our players provided they stay united.
Remember the players are children, the coaches are volunteers and the referees are human.