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Match report: U16 Boys Herefordshire Schools County Football Semi Final v John Kyrle High School

Match report:  U16 Boys Herefordshire Schools County Football Semi Final v John Kyrle High School

 

The Year 11 Football team captained so well by Lewis R this season, bowed out of the County Schools Cup in the semi-finals in arguably the cruellest of ways, via penalty shoot-out.

The boys exit the competition, however, having not lost a game all season in regular time, which takes some doing, and they should hold their heads up high, and be proud of their achievements.  Both of our St Mary’s goalies, Ben G and Jakub S, who played half a game each, had solid games with Jacub having to make one high level diving finger-tip save over the bar in the first half, but overall it was a game of few clear cut chances, with both sides’ defensive solidity and work rate cancelling each other out.  Harrison J’s excellent screening of the back four at CDM was a key feature, as was the concentration of our back four of Charlie D, Ben T, Kacper L and Kacper K, who were a compact working unit throughout, not once getting pulled out of shape.  Our midfield and front line rotations of Oskar L, Tom L, Luke F, Callum L, Marco G, Will G and Jack C worked tirelessly both in making runs into channels when in possession and closing down opposition players out of possession, and if one team was more likely to edge it going into the last quarter, a winner looked more likely to come from St Mary’s.

However, the game remained goalless, and moved into a penalty shoot-out.  St Mary’s scored four out of their five penalties, but with John Kyrle scoring all of their five, it is they who go through to the final at Edgar Street.

The boys were gracious in defeat, and it was heart-warming to watch as they supported each other afterwards.  They are a great bunch of lads, who have been a pleasure to coach, and we all look forward to hearing of their future participation and representative honours in sport when they leave St Mary’s at the end of the school year.