League Match v Lakeside U14's

LRFC Cougars (2) v (0) Lakeside U14's
Naunton Park

This was not a game for the purist. It would have been, for those old
enough to remember, better watched on Ceefax.

There were two moments of quality and both led to goals. The first
started by Willbo breaking up play deep in the Lakeside half. He fed
the ball to Freddie who played it inside to Jorge (when he scores we
will use his Latin name otherwise he's just George!) on the edge of
the area he turned and finished with a dipping curling effort over the
keeper but under the cross bar. A great finish and doubling his tally
for the season so far.

The game would stay at 1-0 until there were just less than 10minutes to play.

The second moment started from deep in our half where Tom picked up
the ball and played it to Louis in the wide left position. Tom
continued his run taking the return pass from Louis in his stride.
Powering forward he looked up and played a perfect ball for Daniel to
chase. Finally a quality ball for the strikers to latch onto and Dan
made no mistakes dispatching the ball into the far left corner as the
keeper closed down the near post. Three passes and a goal. 2-0 and how
the game would finish.

That only partly tells the story, the game could have been a very
different proposition as Lakeside on an early foray into our half had
a shot that crashed off the cross bar and out. A warning.

Where we failed in this game was as much down to panic as it was with
the defending that we faced. Unable to get our passing game going as
Lakeside were committed and energetic throughout we resorted to
hopeful balls forward which this Lakeside team can head back all day.
Where the ball was played hopefully on the ground they had pace and
strength at the back that was the equal of our strike force.

What was needed was quality.

The lads needed to trust that they could play their game and not try
and take Lakeside on at theirs. It is also worth noting that for all
the commitment that was on display there was not one bad tackle.
Lakeside played with excellent controlled aggression towards the ball.

While the game was at 1-0 we were nervy and resorting to last ditch
defending. George at the back was like a wasp all over the pitch.
Making tackles and winning the ball. Ben behind him continued his
early season good form showing lovely technique to win the ball and
play sensible passes. With Harvey, Freddie and Sam playing the
full-back positions we looked pact and capable to keep them at bay.

Freddie had another storming match. Starting at full-back he used his
(footballing) intelligence well which aligned with his physical
strength makes him a tough prospect to play against. Later in the game
he would move into midfield and there was a period where it seemed he
was a magnet for the ball. This excellent performance earned him the
man of the match.

As always we look for positives and there are always some. We headed
the ball well, we stood up well to a physical team and we scored two
excellent goals. What we need is more composure and trust of team
mates. Better quality of the final ball. While our strikers have speed
and technique they need better quality passes to be able to do the
damage we know they can.

This was a solid hard working performance and showed that we had
learned something from the defeat in the County Cup.