Match report NMJFC U11 Hornets V Reddish NE Blues - 19/10/25

Reddish NE Blues is always one of our standout fixtures. These two teams went toe-to-toe last season with very little ever separating them and this season seems to be no different again. An absolutely brilliant match that was end-to-end with both teams playing incredible football. This was a significant improvement on the weekend before against Adswood.

We only do positive and we strive to improve week-on-week. The lads had their work rate questioned by the coaches in training and it had the desired effect as every single one of them put in a proper shift this weekend.

Oliver L returned as Goalkeeper after very unselfishly stepping into the defence the weekend before to cover Finley's absence. It was our first appearance at Benchill and Oliver L was spot-on with his distribution and was pinging some great balls out from the back to start The Hornets attack.

Finners was back and although he'd been under the weather all week he managed to play and possibly put in his best performance of the season so far.

Callum was also back after missing the weekend before and it's a massive credit to Cal, who has stepped up when needed this year and has proven to be very beneficial to The Hornets with his cool & calm approach to defending.

At the centre of that defence is Captain Frankie ⚽ who was solid again. He rarely takes home the POTM award (Being the coaches son) but never fails to put in a performance to be proud of and this weekend he hit an absolute beauty of a free-kick that nestled in the top corner of the net!

Speaking of free-kicks & POTM awards...... our Rocket was in fine form again after his superb performance the weekend before when he took home the man-of-the-match award and also buried a beautiful free-kick against Adswood. Ronan started in the centre of midfield again and is becoming very comfortable there now.

His reading of the game has improved and his decision making has matured and I hate to say it, but our Rocket probably got the rough end of the deal when he had to make way for Ollie M's late arrival to the match as we needed more width and quick legs to get into space & stretch the game.

Oliver B normally plays in the middle but we had made plans for him to have a go in defence against Reddish. We had to change those plans at the very last minute and he started on the wing and was absolutely outstanding.

Shooting again and taking people on, Oliver B showed us coaches he will play anywhere...... Just give the boy an instruction and he will fulfill it.

On the other wing was Leo who may as well be a Hornet now! I can't remember the last game he missed?! Pure dedication from Leo ⚽ everytime and he even took onboard the coaches advice and started beating players and whipping the ball in. Last-time Leo did this for us we won The Greater Manchester Cup! Within a minute, Leo had created the opening goal of the game.

Kai's wishes came true and he got to play upfront for the first-half. He did well. Staying onside & applying pressure on their defence. Reddish played a very highline and we struggled to find space to get in the channel and really test them. Kai's attitude was positive and he was working for the team. Everything we had spoken about in training was being applied. Ollie M showed this when he raised his finger and pointed into the space he wanted the ball to be played into. Frankie found him with a wonderfully weighted ball and Ollie M ⚽ finished in pure style. This is something we have been doing in training and it's very rewarding when it pays off.

The most rewarding thing of all was our Maestros performance. Albie is a free-spirit on the pitch. He goes where he wants but he has the skill-set to get away with it. What we have demanded from him is to express that same capability when we lose the ball. Albie is another who has upped his workrate and in this game he was everywhere. There wasn't a blade of grass he didn't cover. The desire & passion was evident for all to see and the poor lad ran himself into the ground by the end. Top performance from Albs🏆 who took home the POTM award for showing a level of grit & determination beyond his years.

Weekend off for our boys before the first round of the cup competition starts. This is the one we want lads and we are going to the game with every intention of taking that trophy home! Good times ahead for our Mini-Millers 💛🖤

⚽️🖤💛⚽️

#upthemillers