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St.Neots U14 v Hitchin Town Youth U14

Sunday, January 13 2008

An early start for these high flying Canaries but they were cheered by the arrival of the "missing" new kit kindly sponsored again for the 5th year by Conamar Building Services. Our thanks go to Gary Madgin for this tremendous continued support.

The usual cold seasonal weather greeted us up at a wind swept wet community college. But a warm greeting was well received from the coaches at St.Neots who have always given us a tough game .They were licking their lips in anticipation of knocking us off our perch we knew we would have to dig deep today.

We started the game with a new back four of Danny playing at right back enjoying probably his best game in a Hitchin shirt demonstrating his good passing ability, with Lewis slotting in effortlessly alongside James & Jack who ended up a well deserved Man of the Match for fantastic tackles and distribution.
St.Neots started the brighter and their football at times belied their current league position.

They enjoyed a fair amount of possession without actually forcing Harry into many saves, the game was pretty much proving to be a midfield battle with Olly , Tom & Richard giving us good as they were getting.

However for the first time since the first game of the season the boys went behind after a slide rule pass missed by our defenders allowed the St.Neots striker to squeeze under the dive of Harry. The boys hard hardly mustered a shot to trouble the keeper this half as they struggled in the conditions and the well organized opposition.
H-T 0-1

The second half was much better with the introduction of Mickey into the midfield bringing a higher tempo to the game and putting St.Neots on the back foot and the boys chasing for the equalizer. Other changes saw Billy move to Centre forward which offered us a good outlet Josh like Danny playing his best game for Hitchin covered lots of ground on the left with his selfless running and forcing many corners for the team. Ben & Sam were all over the front line chasing every last cause.

A lovely move down the right was finished with aplomb by Richard and this really lifted the boys. Time was against us though………….. that was until super sub Mickey ran onto a through ball flying passed the last defender drew the keeper and finished the only way Mickey can with the outside of his boot which was vainly attempted to be cleared off the line only to bulge the net.

What a comeback (in dreadful conditions) what determination, what dedication, what joy by players coaches and parents alike only 3 mins on the clock left.

It’s all over!! The boys unbeaten run continues 8 on the trot a game we knew would be tough proved just to be that and St.Neots who had pushed us all the way in both games were magnanimous in defeat. They will win a lot more games this season and doing so could yet play a major part in this seasons Championship.

Boy’s we can see the belief in your eyes now you are showing great attitude with no complaints over being rested during games because you believe in each other and Mikes decisions  are proving to be right all the time! Eeryone has a part to play and the longer you trust in each other the better you will get and the top is getting closer with each game.

Behave yourselves at training!! We want you to enjoy yourselves but the word is RESPECT for your coaches’, fellow players and officials.   

Full Time Score St.Neots 1-2 Hitchin Town

Scorers Richard, Mickey

MoM Jack