Lee Rangers Under 14

Lee Rangers Under 14

Welcome to the Under 14 team's section of the site. Up to now the Under 14s have really shown that they can play as a team, with results that show improvement in every game. The squad is managed by Steve Butterworth (assisted by a group of supportive parents) and plays in the Mid Solent League.

• U14 Fixtures & Results

Saturday 21 Nov 09 East Lodge 0 v 2 Lee Rangers

Lee Rangers U14 arrived at Redwood Park School for an 11 am KO.  Close inspection of the pitch found it to be very uneven and the grass was very long.  The warm-up concentrated the mind on 2 touch play and the power needed to hit passes during the game.

Our previous games had left the team a little over confident and this showed in our early player, while East Lodge with 10 men battled extremely hard and made a tough fight of it.  Their goalie and number 6 gave us no end of problems.

The first half did show some good points and the back four of Aaron, Tom G Nathan and Alex were outstanding and the one thing they missed was well and truly cleared by Christian in the Lee goal.

Midfield was a little haphazard except for when it went forward but recovery was a little laboured.  Glen did however have some good runs down the line and he managed to score the only goal of a tight first half.  The 2 Jacks struggled in the midfield and will worked very hard.  Tom and Dan had a couple of half chances up front but again found the pitch difficult to play. 

Half-time came and the instructions were to start working as a team and defending as well as attacking.  There was an emphasis on the marking of players and making recovery runs when beaten.

2nd half a new team came out and Thomas came on for Tom and then Will was substituted for Connor just as the 2nd goal went in for Glen.  This allowed us to go 4 across the middle and stop the supply to East Lodge forwards.  In the last 15 Matty came on for Dan and Glen was pushed up while Matty took the right flank.  The game was won 2-0 in the end and although a fair result East Lodge are to be commended on a fabulous performance.

Lessons learnt this week.  No game and no training midweek gave s a headache in trying to get back into the swing of things.  Players still not getting enough rest on a Friday night.  We may have to introduce a 3 mile run once a week to keep up our fitness levels. 

Positive note a clean sheet, quite a few chances and most of all 3 points.  Well done lads and thanks to all the support and to Martin and Chris for running the line again.

See you at training Wednesday 1845 at Sultan.

Saturday 7th Nov 09 Crofton Saints 1 V 12 Lee Rangers U14

An early KO at Stubbington Rec caught a few players by surprise and the warm-up was something to behold.  However in the changed strip of Yellow, Lee Rangers went about thier business well and were unlucky with a few early chances.  Inevitably a chance came to Dan Lee and he scored a great goal from a through ball to put us 1-0 up (his first of 4) and we quickly increased that to 4-0.  Crofton came back at us and a penalty was awarded to them for handball (bobbly pitch causing it).  They then had an indirect free kick for a back pass and for a few minutes mayhem ensued amongst the Lee ranks.  By half-time the score was up to 6-1 and at half time 3 changes were made allowing Tom Law to get forward and notch a hat-trick and gain the MOM award for today.  2 goals were also added by Jack Jurd who scored a screamer directly from a corner.  Alex Zotsch Thomas Bale and Glen Woods also added a goal a piece and that gave us a well deserved win.

I must at this juncture take my hat off to Harry and the Crofton keeper who were outstanding today.

Christian Dewey played well again in goal and Nathan Carvell, Tom Griffin and Aaron Froude were solid in defence.  Freddie Saunders did some fine skills at left back and Jack Butterworth and Will Harrison policed the centre of the park very well.  Addison Leng came on and had a solid performance at right back and was unlucky not to score.

Overall a much better performance than last week against tougher opposition.  However our passing needs to improve and we need to have a quicker thought process before receiving the ball.  We must concentrate on our set pieces and improve our recovery rate.  We have 2 really tough games in the next 2 weeks so attitude and application needs to better onb Wednesday.

Thanks to Chris Dewey for running the line and all of our supporters for the great support.

Finally well done to the lads today you played much better than last week.

Sat 31 Oct 09 Lee Rangers 19 v 0 Eastney Pythons B

Unfortunately for Eastney today, they turned up with only 9 men.  Lee had their usual full squad of 16 and went about thier task professionally.

A bobbly pitch and some fine saves from the goalkeeper made life difficult for the team in the beginning.

However Dan Lee was again on the mark with another hat-trick Jack Butterworth, Will Harrison and Tom Griffin notched 2 apiece.  Jack Jurd, Alex Zotsch, Mike Mawby, Matty Simmons and Glen Woods notched 1 a piece, an own goal and MOM Thomas Bale waded in with 4 finely taken goals.

It was pleasing to see some good football in patches, however the emphasis was upon individual players on going forward and not working hard enough for the team.

Thanks to Nathan Carvell, Addison Leng, Aaron Froude, Connor Jennings, Freddie Saunders for defending well and our keeper Christian Dewey who kept goal well and made 2 fine saves.

I cannot finish this piece without saying well done to all of the lads from Eastney who kept going until the end.  Eastney Keeper made at least 20 great saves, so well done to him and a desreved MOM for Eastney.

Thanks again to Lee Rangers supporters who were almost as good as the coach today.

Sat 24th Oct 09 Lee Rangers 7 v 1 Eastney Pythons A

A better attitude today saw the boys who were rested the week before come back into the team.  Eastney Pythons were well organised and had some great footwork.  a little over confidence from the Rangers at times, but also at times the football was excellent.

Christian had little to do in the goal, but what he did have he did well.  Tom and Nathan were excellent in defence accompanied by Fred and Aaron.  Midfield of Alex Jack J and Glen played well and Nathan G did his normal harassing game in the free role.  That left Thomas who made himself many chances and Dan who ran his socks off and was rewarde with yet another hat-trick.  I rotated all of the players this week and Jack Matty and Freddie came on first and the team had 3 changes every 10/15 minutes or so.

All of the goals were well worked and we need to keep on our toes next week with regard to offside and passing and supporting.  We also need to do more work off the ball and some of us spring into life when the ball is near.

On a positive note the win takes us to 2nd in the table and if we maintain hte same attitude it will work wonders.

Well done again to our massive support and all of the players on a fine win.

Sat 17 Oct 09 Lee Rangers U14 1 v 1 Grayshott

Unfortunately the wrong attitude was evident today.  Several players not on top form and a feeling of the fact that we had not let in a league goal gave us an air of superiority not earned.

On a more promising note we kept playing throughout the game and Tom , the 2 Jacks and Dan Lee had notable performances.

Grayshott took the lead through a breakaway and a mix up in defence.

Lee kept going and in the final minutes Dan unleashed a fine shot and scored the equaliser.

Not a memeorable performance but a lot of positives from patches of great football.

Lets be more consistent in the future and we can stamp our authority on the game.

Well done to the supporters and the players today.