Match report: U13 Boys Herefordshire Schools County Football Semi Final v Earl Mortimer College
Match report: U13 Boys Herefordshire Schools County Football Semi Final v Earl Mortimer College
Firstly a congratulatory nod should be given to 3 of our St Mary’s teams (Year 11s, Year 10s, and Year 7s) all of whom were losing semi-finalists in this year’s Hereford Schools County Cup competition.
However, going one better was our Year 8 team who made it through to the final for the second year in a row, with an excellent 4 – 1 win over Earl Mortimer College.
St Mary’s conceded an early goal, but showed great resilience to come back with two goals of their own before the half time interval. Firstly a clever switch of play by Oscar N, put Oli M away down the right wing, who then cut inside and lobbed the keeper with a sublime finish on 10minutes. St Mary’s continued to apply pressure, and shortly after this goal a second followed for Archie T, who timed his run to perfection to head home from a Taylor R corner to make it 2 – 1.
In the second half with the game still very much in the balance, St Mary captain, Tom L, who lead by example throughout the match, headed home another Taylor R corner to make it 3 – 1 to give St Mary’s a little breathing space. 10 minutes before the end of the game a well-struck Taylor R direct free kick from outside the box beat the keeper to make it 4 – 1, and put the game beyond EMC.
This was arguably the boys best performance of the season to date. The defensive unit of Tom L, Joe N, Harry T and Patrick C hardly put a foot wrong all game, and they were ably supported by the athleticism of Year 7 sweeper keeper, Noah A, making his debut for the Year 8s. The midfield trio of Archie T, Oskar N and Taylor R controlled the game with their work rate in defence, combined with their ball playing and good decision making in possession. Up front Oli R had arguably his best game of the season, holding the ball up on countless occasions and bringing others around him into the game, and our rotation of wingers, Oli M, Charlie E, Kiera and Ryan G offered good attacking options throughout the game.
A most satisfying performance, and one which takes the boys to Edgar Street for the final next Thursday, 6pm kick off.