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Hitchin Town Hurricanes U11's v Barton Rovers U11's

Saturday, September 16 2006

After the mighty triumphant opening game of last week, Hurricanes were shot down in flames as Barton Rovers made it a dog's life for our brave boys in blue!
 
In complete contrast to last week, it was a dull, damp and cool Ickleford that was the venue for the second league game of the new season. We knew that this would be a hard one as Rovers were three divisions above us last year, and within only three minutes of the kick off, after immediate and constant pressure on our goal, a post deflected shot was hit home from close in to give Barton the early lead. 0 - 1
 
Hitchin re-started the game only to concede again just two minutes later after yet another consistent barrage of attacks into our area! The lads seemed totally powerless to stop a fast paced and accurate passing Barton side that were brimming with confidence from the outset. Simmy and Rhys in defence tried desperately to cut out the Rovers attacking forwards but to no avail and though Matt was outstanding, saving as many as he could he could do nothing to stop a third from entering the net at the half way point of the first half, though no credit to the visitors for this one, as an unlucky deflection resulted in an own goal. 0 - 3.
 
Alfie, Lee, Adam and Josh in midfield, and Jack up front hardly got a look in throughout this half, as almost the entire play was on the Hurricanes side of the pitch resulting in so many corners for Barton that for the first time ever...I actually lost count! With all these corners in mind it was a credit to the lads positive defending that the score line at half time wasn't a lot more as Barton scored just once more before the whistle. Half Time 0 - 4
 
During the break everybody would have been forgiven for thinking that this was going to be a complete rout! However, far from it, as the brave lads didn't drop their heads for a minute. Although, pretty much resigned to the fact that the game was beyond recovery, all the Hitchin boys held fast and managed a completely clean sheet for the second half. The Barton pressure play was just as relentless but now it seemed our players had worked out how to read their opponents game, with every boy on the pitch in a Town shirt winning full credit and admiration from all who watched.
 
Considering that throughout the entire match, Hurricanes had just three corners resulting in less than half a dozen mustered genuine counter-attacks, the final score line meant that the Hurricanes could walk away still with their heads held high. A lot of teams that we dominated over last year could take a lesson in how to take defeat on the chin. The lads might have lost that early league leaders honour, but we were proud of every last one of them! Absolutely no disgrace!!!
 
Man of the Match = Matt (couldn't ask for more!)
 
Final Result: Hitchin Town 0 Barton Rovers 4