Withington Rangers 1 V 0 Heyside Juniors Under 9s B

<p>&nbsp;

<p>It was the semi final of the Division 3 cup today as Withington Rangers provided the opposition having moved into second place in the league behind the Heyside team following last weeks double over Clayton.

<p>We knew this was going to be a difficult tie as in our previous meetings Withington have proved to be a really well organised side with some outstanding individuals.

<p>The first game saw Heyside gaining the upper hand with several near misses and forcing some tremendous saves from the Withington keeper.

<p>After the disappointment of the defeats in our last 2 games I have to credit all the boys today who probably played as well if not better than in any other game this season. I&rsquo;m sure that all the B teams we are meeting at the moment have been strengthened by bringing in at least a couple of the A team and again today Withington were a much stronger outfit than in previous games.

<p>The second half followed much the same pattern as the first but Withington also created chances and forced George into making good saves, one in particular a fantastic double effort as he forced a shot onto the bar before bravely gathering the ball from off the toes of the onrushing forward.

<p>Withington took the lead though with a well worked corner from which a neat near post header sneaked in at the back post.

<p>You could see from the boy&rsquo;s faces what a kick in the teeth the goal was but far from feeling sorry for themselves they picked themselves up and laid siege to Withington&rsquo;s goal as they tried everything to even the game up.

<p>It wasn&rsquo;t to be though as the match ended in a 1-0 defeat but in the overall context of the tie, to be determined by the aggregate score of both games, we knew that we had given the A team a good chance of overturning the deficit to ensure we reached the final.

<p>Everyone contributed today &ndash; George a couple of great saves, Joel and Lennon superb in defence, Jake back from 2 weeks off tremendous again, Ryan intelligent passing and movement a great effort, Matty full of running and good tracking back, Aaron outstanding display deserved a couple of goals, Louis good work out wide and helping out in defence and Jack worked his socks off and adding more aggression to his tackling which we&rsquo;ve been looking for him to add to his game.

<p>Keep this up boys and the results will come again along with the rewards &ndash; you more than played your part today in getting the team to the final. Let&rsquo;s kick on, win some games but most of all enjoy yourselves.

<p>Well done!!!

<p>&nbsp;MOM: &nbsp;Everybody had a claim on the award today but Jack deserved his second of the season after a committed display.

<p>&nbsp;

<p>&nbsp;