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Hitchin U7's Reach Royston Crow Finals

Saturday, May 10 2008

A glorious morning in more ways than one. The sun shone brightly and, playing their first ever competitive games, the Under 7s qualified top of a closely fought group to take their place in the Royston Cup U7s finals on 24 May.

Up against Letchworth Blues and Royston Colts, the team knew one win could secure their passage to the next round. They watched on as Letchworth looked impressive in comfortably beating Royston 2-0 in the first game. Hitchin’s first match was against Royston and they left the pitch at the end scratching their heads as to how it ended up 0-0. Hitchin dominated the match from start to finish. The only chance Royston had was from the penalty spot after Patrick tripped an opponent inside the area – fortunately for Hitchin, the spot-kick was dragged wide of the post. Otherwise, Sam Henshaw (in goal), Kane and Patrick were untroubled. The front-four were excellent, Joel and Jonathan were full of energy down the wings and William and Sam Hartnack were a constant threat to the Royston goal. Only an excellent performance from the Royston keeper and some uncharacteristically wasteful finishing prevented a convincing Hitchin win.

The second game saw Vinay and Daniel replace Jonathan and Sam Hartnack, with Kane replacing Sam Henshaw in goal. Hitchin needed to avoid defeat to progress, not an easy task against a very strong Letchworth team. But the boys rose to the occasion and gave one of their best performances of the season to claim a deserved 2-0 win. The first half was open and fast moving and both sides came close to scoring. Hitchin created a number of chances but gave away another penalty when Vinay handled the ball. The penalty was well struck but Kane dived to make a fantastic save and Sam cleared the rebound. This was the turning point. Hitchin gradually got on top and deservedly went ahead when Joel’s shot from the edge of the area beat the Letchworth keeper. Joel could have made it two minutes later when Hitchin were awarded a penalty but his shot went over the crossbar.  Vinay did make it two close to the end, with a turn and shot that beat the keeper and sealed the victory.

An outstanding performance to all involved - from the rock-solid defence to the skill and hard work of the front players. Two games, four points, two clean sheets and Hitchin were group winners. A repeat performance on 24 May and anything is possible.

The triumphant squad and coach Iain Alderson

The triumphant squad and coach Iain Alderson