Match Report – 25th October, New Mills Juniors U8s Vipers vs Adswood United

Another Saturday and another outing for the Vipers to enjoy their football match, this week against Adswood United.  Back to full strength with Logan back and taking the captain’s armband for this week.  Kingsley would start as usual in goal with Leo at centre back, Kit on the right and Jude on the left with Lily and Thomas playing in the middle further forward.  Logan, Elliott and Alistair would be our gamechangers this week knowing everyone in the team makes a difference whether from the bench or the start.  This week our focus was on teamwork and working hard for each other, with and without the ball.  

The game started with a tight and close affair between the sides.  Kit was trying to create down the wing, but his runs weren’t quite coming off.  Jude showed his bravery on the left, constantly under pressure when he got on the ball, his shielding of the ball then passes forward were superb along with his control from passes out from Leo and Kingsley.  Lily and Thomas showed how to defend from the front and were a constant thorn in Adswood’s side, not allowing the easy passes to be made.  Leo as ever, marshalled the back well and was consistently making great decisions in positioning, tackling and his passing.  To show how well the team defended, Kingsley didn’t have a lot to save but when he was called upon, he showed his brilliant handling as well as his passing the ball from goal kicks were brilliant this week.  Our game-changers entered the fray and they made a difference straight away.  Alistair replaced Kit and was having a great impact down the right, Logan for Thomas and Elliott for Lily.  Elliott then showcased his brilliant finishing thanks to a great ball down the line from Jude to open the Vipers scoring.  He doubled his tally before half time with an excellent strike into the far corner but the move of the match was for the Vipers 3rd goal.  A superb move from back to front started by Leo winning the ball giving the ball to Alistair, he played it to Logan who drove forward with the ball.  He passed across to Jude who found Elliott whose shot was deflected into the path of Logan who had carried on his run forward and finished at the far post.

At half-time, we emphasized to continue the great work we had done in the first half, keep working hard to move the ball around and work hard to help your team at the back too.  Lily would take the gloves for the second half with Kingsley playing at the start of the second half to allow Leo his break.  The second half was even more entertaining than the first with both sides attacking relentlessly especially as players tired. Kingsley was trying his best to create further forward but worked so hard to come back and help his team defensively.  Lily was extremely brave in goal making a couple of good saves and passing well to her teammates from goal kicks. Logan was dominant at the back, with Alistair and Kit taking turns to maraud down the right.  Kit got in on the scoring too with two well taken goals, the pick of them a volley from distance which looped into the far corner.  Elliott was flying down the left and managed to grab his 3rd goal, he was taking turns with Jude to work hard going forward and back.  Thomas was a tackling monster in the centre and was unlucky not to get his shots away as well after a couple of good bursts through the middle were defended well at the last second.  

The moment of the second half and the game came when Mr composure himself, Leo, picked up the ball from distance and decided to fire an effort goalward.  The ball flew high in the air and just dipped and dropped under the crossbar and over the line.  Leo, at first, did not realize the ball had gone in and was disappointed until everyone told him it was a goal.  The celebrations from him and his teammates optimized the team, everyone worked hard together, celebrated each other’s achievements together and by the end of the game loved playing the game together… a mark of a great team.

Another awesome game Vipers, no game next week as we slither past Halloween, but we’ll be ready for the week after with our little sparklers ready to make fireworks on the pitch.

⚽️🖤💛⚽️

#upthemillers