Match Report: Under 11 Corinthians v Walton Warriors: 2 - 2 Home Draw (League)
Match Date: | Sat 11/05/2013 |
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Played: | Walton Warriors (Home) |
Result: | 2 - 2 |
Match Type: | League |
Man of the match: | Lorcan/George |
Match Report
Corinthians shine in end of season cracker
As the greatest ever football manager said….”I don’t believe it, football – bloody hell”. After last week’s disappointing game, Ashtead turned in a performance that must rank as one of their best to deny Walton the league title. This first ever draw for the Corinthians was a product of everyone playing to their full potential, some confident goalkeeping and 2 fine goals.
The opening exchanges were pretty even with the game mainly played in the midfield. Ashtead Captain Oscar Power and Fraser Swan formed an impressive duo and never let the Walton players settle. They were looking to push forward but their opponents, keen to get the 3 league winning points they needed kept them well occupied with defensive duties. When Walton did advance, Matthew Hawthorne in the Ashtead defence looked in control and dealt with the attacks comfortably alongside fullbacks Joe Young and Will Douglass who settled in quickly and gave Lorcan Marrett in the Ashtead goal some good protection. Lorcan was able to deal with the few chances that Walton had with supreme confidence – his general handling has improved so much this year and his confidence does transfer to the defenders.
Callum Kane, usually seen bewildering defenders with jinking runs had to dig in and made several strong tackles and the commitment that he and the other Ashtead midfielders showed began to turn the game in their favour. George Bartlett slipped a clever ball from the wing into Adam Thornton who had moved into a good position but his first time shot went agonisingly over. Ashtead pushed forward again and drew a foul 25 yards from the goal. George stepped up and hit a perfect dipping free kick into the opposite top corner – great goal.! Within a few minutes the lead was doubled when Owen Thompson-Smith playing in a classic No. 10 role controlled the ball in the centre circle, turned and played a marvellous pass out to George on the right wing who cut inside 2 defenders and hit a clever left footed shot in off the post. George’s fourth goal in four games gave Ashtead a deserved halftime lead.
The second half was always going to be difficult for Ashtead as Walton pushed forward from the re-start. Dylan Williams slotted in well alongside Fraser in midfield and both were called on to make tackles to keep the Walton midfielders at bay. Peter Boardman dropped back into defence to add some aggression and the last ditch tackle count from him, Oscar and Matthew was going up and up..! There were some moments of relief for Ashtead and Max Parris was a willing runner and linked up well with Will on the left side. George almost played Callum in with a quick pass and then sent over a deep cross for Adam, who again was unlucky not to score from a good far post position. Walton continued to attack and scored after a goalmouth scramble and then equalised with a penalty when Oscar was unlucky to be penalised for an unintentional handball. A tense last 10 minutes for everyone was on the cards! Walton desperately searched for the goal that would bring them the title but the Ashtead defence stood firm and Lorcan made a number of saves including a brilliant stop from point blank range after the ball had hit the bar (look up Schmeichel v Inter Milan on YouTube for reference).
The time ran out and the game ended in a well fought draw that brought heartache to Walton but meant Ashtead finished the season on a high and they should take great pride in the way they recovered from last week’s game to play with such determination.
Ashtead Man of the Match
George Bartlett/Lorcan Marrett – in a game where the entire Ashtead team played well, the 2 goals that George scored using 2 completely different skills and the saves and confident handling of Lorcan lets them share the honour this week.