LEE RANGERS U11A 7 CROFTON SAINTS 0
What a fantastic day for a cup final,it must have been the hottest day so far this year. I was pleased because the boys don't perform well in the rain and I guess the supporters would have been pretty cheesed off too. I must say it was great to see so many people supporting the boys with air horns and banners and generally making themselves heard. Ray Brinn our team sponsor also took time out to come and cheer us on and I hope we have repaid his kindness in some small way with a terrific performance from the boys.!! A big thank you goes to A F C Porchester for hosting us at such short notice as Havant & Waterlooville let us down at the last minute.
The match itself got off to a cagey start,nerves were playing a part in that, but eventually our wingers Matty Taylor and Brad Haimes were making the sort of runs that have been causing our opponents problems all season. Crofton dug in and proved to be a tough nut to crack and had a couple of good chances to take the lead, there striker went through one on one with our keeper Finlay Stewart who pulled off a terrific save bravely throwing himself at the feet of the on coming striker, saving with his chest,Fahren Smith and Nathan Binning delt with the loose ball defending brilliantly in the centre. We kept up the pressure with Harry Pye and Charlie Taylor going close but it wasn't until two minutes before half time that the breakthrough was made with Liam McShannon playing a great defence splitting pass to give Brad Haimes a run on goal cutting in from the right hand side to fire the ball home with a great compsed finish high into the left hand corner of the goal.("Great time to score a goal").
Several handfuls of jelly beans and various fizzy drinks later the boys were fired up and ready to go ,the goal settled the early nerves,so out we came for the second half. Crofton had a good spell for ten minutes testing Finlay early on , again he pulled off a stunning save as the on coming striker tried to shoot over him but Finlay extended his strong right hand high, stopping the ball in its tracks. Crofton picked up the rebound but the defence did its job and the danger passed. This was a turning point in the match with Matty Taylor scoring from the left with a high looping shot within a few minutes, making it 2-0. Michael Banks came on for Nathan Binning and strentghened up the midfield. More goals followed by Liam McShannon with a terrific header and the introduction of Michael Banks proved to be a decisive decision as he took his chance big style calmly slotting away a low drive into the bottom left corner , the other a stunning volley 10 yards out leaving the keeper no chance. Charlie Taylor grabbed a couple of cracking goals making use of his electrifying pace ,that must be over 60 for the season !!. Crofton battled hard until the final whistle but just couldn't find a way through,and were always going to find it hard against the league champions. This completed a great season for the boys achieving the league cup double on their first season in 11 aside football. Well done to everyone on the day as football definately came out the winner,both squads gave there all and enjoyed the occassion. Thanks go to my number two Skayn Smith who constantly kept pulling me back into our technical area,it was great to have you there mate ! It only remains for me to congratulate the squad on a outstanding season,you deserve it !!!
MID SOLENT MAN OF THE MATCH...........FINLAY STEWART (Rangers G K )
Our team has fourteen boys this season and most of them have been playing together since they were 7. This is when I first became involved - our son was looking for a team, the club happened to be looking for a new coach and the rest, as they say, is history. My name is Liam Taylor, I'm the manager/coach and I'm assisted by Skayn Smith. My wife Linda deals with the paperwork side of things.
