Southside Star Cubs U8 v Winchcombe Town U8

The Wildcats coach for the day was Joe and in his team he had Lennie, George, Zac, Monty, Alex (U7), Logan, Jake M and Farid. The first game was against the Tigers and could have gone either way. Logan scored with a nice finish, but it was sandwiched between 2 goals for the Tigers from Russell. Zac played very well in defence in this one, and Farid and Jake both came close to an equaliser, but it was not to be.

Game 2 was against the Lions and the Wildcats didn’t fare too well in this one, as they fell to a 4-goal defeat. The scoreline was rather harsh on them, but a couple of missed clearances in defence cost them dearly.

Game 3 was Winchcombe and the Wildcats fared much better in this game. From what I saw of it, the Wildcats were on top for most of the game and there were efforts on goal from Alex and Lennie that went narrowly wide. Jake did find the net after a pass from Monty, but we couldn’t add to that tally and ultimately the game ended in a draw. Player of the day for the Wildcats was George, for his versatility in playing in a number of different positions.

For the Tigers, coach for the day was Adam Ponting, and in his team he had son Seb, Filip, Sam B (U7), Russell, Kaiyan, Jake S, Freddie and Sonny.

As previously mentioned, game 1 was a 2-1 win versus the Wildcats, with Russell notching a brace. Sam and Seb were very solid at the back in this one to help the Tigers over the line.

Game 2 was the game with Winchcombe and the Tigers took the lead with an effort from distance from Filip. Kaiyan and Sam had chances to extend that lead, but it was Winchcombe who scored the next goal with a long-range effort of their own, before Sonny in goal was called upon twice to make saves to prevent the opposition drawing level. Jake was full of energy in this one and really drove the Tigers forward, with Filip firing home another, from a little closer in this time, to win the game.

Game 3 was the winner-takes-all battle versus the Lions, and the Tigers got off to a flying start, with Sam & Freddie putting them 2-up early on. The Lions were back in it from a penalty conceded by a handball from Sam, but undeterred the Tigers went further ahead with another goal from Filip. At this point, there seemed only one winner, but the Lions came roaring back with 3 goals, 1 of them with the very last kick of the game, to leave the Tigers feeling understandably very deflated. Their overall performance on the day was very good though, with Russell man of the match for his tiresome efforts getting up and down the pitch, plus 2 fine goals.

Fort the Lions, their coach was Matt Thompson, and in his team he had son Brendan, Teddy, Harry W, Reuben, Noah, Finnley, Jesse (U7) and Robert.

The Lions had a goal-filled day and they started like a house on fire in game 1 versus Winchcombe, with 2 early goals from Jesse followed by a laser from halfway by Noah! At this point, I was about to suggest to Matt that we played with a player less, but Winchcombe came back and scored with a fine effort of their own. Brendan added a 4th for the Lions, who then became rather complacent and were looking for the spectacular, rather than the simple option, and they paid when they conceded 2 late goals. A final score of 4-3 not really doing justice to the overall picture of the game.

Game 2 was versus the Wildcats and the Lions were again blazing the goal trail, with 2 goals each from Noah and Teddy, with some mistakes in the Wildcats defence being seized on and punished. Solid games too in defence from Harry, Reuben and Robert.

Game 3 was the thriller versus the Tigers, where the Lions had to claw themselves back into the game after twice falling 2 goals behind. Teddy slotted home a penalty to bring the game back to 2-1, then a thunderbolt from Finnley brought it back to 3-2 after they had gone 3-1 down. Noah struck a late goal seemingly to snatch a draw, but there was even later drama to come, when Teddy stole the ball on the right, broke away and fired home the winner, with the very last kick of the match. A very good morning’s work for the Lions, with Noah taking home the man of the match medal for an excellent all round-performance, not to mention his 4 goals!

All in all, another good run-out for our U8 Cubs in preparation for the 7-a-side games they will be playing next season. We have a repeat fixture against Winchcombe on April 27th, although not yet confirmed whether the game will be played at Winchcombe or Greatfield Park. Watch this space!

Men of the Match: George Quinn, Russell Adam & Noah Thackray