Match Report - Leatherhead Youth U14 - 19 Sep 2021

The start of the season finally arrived for the CTYFC U14 Rebels with a trip to Leatherhead Youth. We were looking for a fast start to get a foothold in the game and early chances were squandered with Oli sending a left foot shot wide and Zahir and Mikey both having good chances saved by the opposition keeper. Erim and Lewis were working hard in midfield and Luca had a couple of half chances but we were struggling to find any real rhythm. Leatherhead were not showing much attacking threat and Alex, JJ, Hayden and Freddie were relatively comfortable. We were forced into making a change when Zahir had to come off through a sore leg and was replaced by James who came on to make his first competitive appearance for the Rebels. Another change was forced upon us shortly after when Luca was unable to continue having come into the game with slight hamstring problem. He was replaced by Isaac who made his debut for the Rebels. We moved to a back 3 in the hope of pushing on with our wing backs but when getting into good positions our quality in the final third was lacking with our final ball often wayward. Lewis also picked up a knock at the end of the half following a crunching 50-50 tackle and was replaced by Kris. A half that was disrupted by having to make several changes ended goalless.

We reshuffled again at half time with Lewis coming back on having recovered and replaced Oli who was feeling a knock on his ankle. The second half was a battle of attrition as Leatherhead reverted to committing multiple fouls, resulting in 2 bookings with a couple of challenges arguably worthy of a red. However the ref chose just a booking when possibly the use of the sin bin could have come into play. It seemed the only way they could prevent us from playing but several further opportunities came and went as we were unable to find the breakthrough. Luke came on to replace JJ at left back and was assured whilst Oli came back on for Lewis as we searched for a winner. Dom had been a bystander for most of the game but did well when called upon to deal with any threats. However we nearly gave the game away when a lapse in concentration saw a ball squirm from Dom’s grasp and only scramble defending from Hayden saved the ball from crossing the line. We began to give away silly free kicks as we were continually fouled and became more frustrated but this only played into the oppositions hands as time ran out. FT 0-0.

A testing game with hopefully good lessons learned that will stand us in good stead for the season ahead, in what promises to be a tough and competitive league. We will need to be much more clinical and take our chances as the season progresses but it was pleasing to come away with a clean sheet.