GaME WEEK 10 v Hilda Park

It was nice to be back home and able to use the new goals that we built in November, the pitch looked in as good a condition as expected and was fairly firm so no reason not to continue to play our usual passing football.

Given how well we played in the last fixture again Velocity it seemed logical to keep the starting IX the same where possible, the only changes were Jack in goal for Aodan as per our rotation policy and Mason in for Amir who was injured playing the school in the week and unavailable.

We also kept the objectives and challenges the same, looking to have a minimum of 5 shots in the first half and complete a series of core moves in order to build our patterns of play. Throughout the last few weeks, we've been working on our restarts (Throw ins, corners, goal kicks) so I was eager to see how the player implemented these into the game.

Rutherford kicked off and largely dominated possession, working the ball out wide and into the channels, as both fullbacks and wingers combined well, looking to exchange short passes before playing slightly longer into the space in behind. Plenty of combinations were on display and our movement from throw ins was imaginative with all players comfortable and confident to receive the ball in all areas of the pitch. The game was limited to half chances and shots from distance, James firing a long range shot into the keepers chest, Max Billingham firing a half chance wide and Max Johnson missing the best chance of the half following good work down the right hand side, his low shot just missing the far post.

Hilda Park grew into the first half and are a good counter attacking team, with their number 8 and 10 showing good composure on the ball and strong running which caused our defence some issues. Hilda probably had the two best chances of the first half with the two aforementioned players both shooting wide when well placed.

Rutherford had a total of 5 shots in the first half, with the last on the stroke of half time, unfortunately none of them really troubled the Hilda goalkeeper. 0-0 at half time.

In the second half we gave Mason a challenge when out of possession, we asked him to man mark the number 10 an delay him to allow other players to regroup and get back to cover. This worked very well and Mason stuck to his task, reducing the number 10 to playing backwards and going much deeper to receive the ball. Max Johnson was given a similar challenge mid half this time to mark the number 8 who, to Hilda's credit was finding more space as the ball wasn't;t going through the number 10 as much. Max, like Mason, did well in his challenge.

The second half started similar to the first, Rutherford dominating possession, playing combinations and working half opportunities, the two best falling to Elliott and Max Billingham. Elliott's chance was a carbon copy to the one he was presented with at Velocity, a great 3rd man run following and "up, back and through" passing move, this time Elliott had a player to beat, which he did but his shot was fired straight into the keepers chest. A big chance and one he was very unhappy with missing. Next through on goal was Max Billingham following a quality through ball which he raced on to but unfortunately his final touch was just too heavy and the Hilda goalkeeper smothered the chance.

0-0 after 40 minutes until Hilda scored a goal from long range, following a half clearance from a corner. The bad ran out and the Hilda player struck a high shot into the middle of the goal. It was disappointing goal to concede as I don't think we pressed the shot hard enough and high shots will cause every keeper in this age group issues. We needed to change the game an went to a 1-2-1-3-2 formation, man for man marking at the back and 2 up front. We caused Hilda some problems but in reality, they were on top now and looked the most dangerous. The second game on the 53rd minute and was fortuitous to say the least, a shanked cross which caught Jack out and sailed over his head into the far corner.

Rutherford pressed and caused a few scrambles, one decent shout for a penalty and a brave piece of goalkeeping saw the ball scrambled wide but the game finished 2-0 to Hilda.

Overall, I think the performance today was solid, the players took on board the aspects of the game we believe are important, rose to the challenges we set but ultimately came up short. These things happen at times. If I was to have an minor criticism, and it is minor, I think Hilda out worked and out fought us in the second half which given our "Out run, out fight, out play" mantra is disappointing.

Player of the match today was Joe for his first half performance. He linked up very well with Jack, Taylor, Elliott and Mason, playing the ball into their feet or receiving passes to play out and start attacks. His quality from deadfalls was remarked on by Hilda parents and he was solid in difference. Well done Joe.

Other notable mention go to Jack who commanded his back well and distributed the ball well, mostly. James Lee and Max Johnson for their work rate and confidence in possession and Mason for sticking to his challenge and really concentrating throughout.

Unlucky today, we move on to next week where we start to turn these good performances in to positive results.