22 Mar 2008 - Match Report - KHFitC U9 Hawks (S&DYFL)

Northside 0 v 1 v KHFitC Hawks - report by Matt Evans

A freezing cold, windy day with a few specs of snow down by the race course in Worcester was the venue for the eagerly awaited clash between Northside and the mighty Hawks. The previous encounter had ended in a one all draw and we were determined to get all 3 points. Northside seem to have improved of late with some good results recently, narrowly losing only 2 nil to Cookley Boys last week.

We started with a strong team consisting of Lewis in goal, a defensive pairing of George and Jordan, and our 4 man attacking, defending midfield combination of Haydn, David, Dan and Jack.

Some may think it is strange to play 2-4-0 tactics, but at this age we should be teaching the kids to play football not 'hoof it over the top' to the quick player up front as so many teams seem to. With 4 across the middle it teaches them to pass and move forward as a group and develop all of their footballing skills rather than singling out and focusing on the quick and the strong players.

We adopted this tactic some time ago and it is really starting to work for us, players are looking for their team-mates rather than going it alone and I must say is incredibly entertaining to watch. I heard mutterings in the Northside crowd that Barcelona had turned up instead of Kidderminster Harriers. The beautiful game certainly warmed us up today.

Anyway enough of the mind-numbing ramblings, and on with the match report.

Right from the moment the referee pulled the whistle out of his pocket, moved it to his lips and blew we were put of the blocks faster than a greyhound chasing a defenceless rabbit. The ball was spread from left to right, right to left, back to front, front to back and then left to right again. The magical football never stopped. Northside couldn't get out of their own half. The pressure paid off after a series of spectacular corners by Dave. A goal mouth scramble ended in delight for Haydn who incredibly doubled his tally for the whole season with a deadly strike (in the blink of an eye his season total jumped from 1 to 2).

Chances came and went and we could have been several more up at half time, the interval was a nervous period as we have let leads slip in recent weeks, but today the lads were not in the mood to disappoint.

Byron came on in the second half shortly followed by Jamie (in his first game back since recovering from injury), Gareth and Alex.

The second half continued in the same fashion as the first, had it not been for some spectacular saves from the Northside keeper the score line would have been as magical as the football played.

Man of the match today goes to Birthday boy David for some spectacular passes and positional play