Hook Youth vs Wey Valley Youth U12 Warri
4 - 0
14 October 2017 · North East Hampshire Youth League<br>U12 Division 3
Home friendly match played on 14 October 2017.
Kicked off at 11:15 AM
4-0
vs Wey Valley Youth U12 Warriors
Home friendly match
A nice warm morning at Hartletts Park, Hook Youth welcomed Wey Valley for a friendly, and their second meeting in 2 weeks.
After a training session focusing on defending as units, the manager asked the boys to be disciplined with their formations and positions, and continue to play their usual style of football, winning the ball, playing wide and getting the ball down the forward channels quickly. There were also a couple of pointers encouraging throw-ins to be taken by the wide players, and corners NOT to be taken by forwards.
A very quick start with good pressure by Hook saw 2 very early goals... both well taken and both created from good, quick passing. However, as the half progressed a couple of players tended to lack positional discipline, resulting in large gaps being left which, to their credit, Wey Valley exploited and were unlucky not to get on the score sheet. A little more positivity required on occasion from Hook players to 'own' the play (either pass it on, move in to space, or get hold of the ball), but on the whole a solid start.
These points were raised at half time, and the players duly stuck to their guns playing a solid second half, and were unfortunate not to get more goals registered by the end. The one thing throughout the game, the boys MUST improve on is communicating "time" and "man on" calls, as they often lost out on possession through rushing unnecessarily, or taking too much time, unnecessarily.
One thing to really highlight is the 4th consecutive clean sheet!
Again, there were some really sound performances from all the players with a couple playing particularly well. The MoM went to M R for a very good performance on the right of midfield, chasing down, holding up, exploiting space, and some really good crosses. He even found himself on the end of a volley in front of goal!
Whilst there are some tougher opponents in the coming weeks, the Hook lads must take confidence (albeit caution) in their results from good performances, but know that the discipline in positioning and possession will be key to ensure they compete against the tougher teams.