A PLANTastic Win for the U14s

Nip and Tuck from Start to Finish with an awesome performance from Ollie

Norbury arrived en masse and early! Mellor, with a modest squad, looked promising in warm up - all set for a great game, and it was.
Some majestic early checks from Joey set the tone on a day where our Defence really stepped up with Alex and Will dealing with much of what came at them from a well organised Norbury team.

George tested their keeper early on ,who played superbly throughout, but a great solo goal from Ollie from a feed from Ned saw him notch his first of SIX goals today. A bizarre mix up saw Norbury pull one back late in the quarter with us taking a 1 goal lead into Q2.

Q2 saw us dominate more of the game but we were always vulnerable to the speed and skills of the Norbury midfield, led as ever by their No 8. Some ill discipline saw us down to 8 players leading to a Norbury goal before an awesome feed from Jack Royle for Ollie's hat-trick. Norbury refused to lie down though and brought the game back to 4 - 4 by the half time break.

A nice solo goal from Jamie after another OP goal saw us use Q3 to drive home 4 goals for no reply including a brave helmet save from Ned and a neat finish from Jack. Toby, given a tough job on the day, covered acres of ground and helped to link our stubborn defence with our industrious midfield and attack. 2 goals from Norbury led to a nervy ending that could have seen the game slip away - fortunately, we hung on.

So, as performances go, this was one of the best of the season. With less reliance on our usual work horses, we saw some really strong performances across the pitch. So a great team effort - and as for man of the match? - a no brainer - Ollie Plant who celebrated his 6 goal game with some extra shooting practise whilst the boys warmed up in the clubhouse with a soup!