Hitchin Town Youth Football Club
An FA Charter Standard Development Club
Hatfield U7 v Hitchin Town Youth U7
Saturday, April 26 2008
The hottest day of the year so far at a sunny, if windy, Gosling Leisure Centre saw Hatfield and Hitchin each grab a win.
Game 1 saw Joel in goal, Max and Jonathan in defence and a front four of William, James, Vinay and Kane. It was a very close, tight game and both teams defended well and restricted their opponents' chances. Max and Jonathan were excellent in defence, solid and strong in the tackle.
Hitchin competed well in midfield and created a lot of promising moves. However, they struggled to make the final pass count, to set up clear goal-scoring opportunities. The result was decided just before half time with a scrappy goal. Hitchin didn't clear a cross into the box and in the resulting melee, Hatfield managed to squeeze the ball past Joel and into the net.
Result: HATFIELD 1 HITCHIN 0
Game 2 was possibly the most one-sided game of the season, so far. Joel swapped the gloves with Kane and joined William and Sam Hartnack in a formidable front three that launched wave after wave of attack. Sam Henshaw had a great game in a covering role in central midfield and the first half was played almost entirely in the Hatfield penalty area.
Max, Patrick and Kane could have wandered over to the snack bar for a glass of lemonade and they wouldn't have been missed, such was Hitchin's dominance. The only surprise was that the half-time score was only 1-0, Sam Hartnack shooting past the keeper from the edge of the box.
Hatfield came back into the match in the second half but the Hitchin defence remained untroubled and Max and Patrick kept their concentration and snuffed out any danger. Joel nearly doubled Hitchin's lead after a mazy run and shot and his much-improved crossing and corners created a great deal of trouble for Hatfield's defence. Sam scored his second and sealed victory with a confident finish after a good passing move involving William and Joel.
Result: HATFIELD U7 0 HITCHIN U7 2