Match Report Salford lads U14s v NMJFC U14s - 30/11/25

The Millers put in a fantastic performance today and came up a little short of getting to the next round of the County Cup.

The Millers started brightly and created several good chances, with both Greeny and Bertie going close to opening the scoring early on.

The Millers restricted the opposing team to shots from distance, which Archie handled confidently, before distributing quickly to set up several good counterattacks.

Alfie and Daniel handled the central threat well, while India and Cole limited their wingers with strong defending from the off.

Jess, Fletcher and Bobby battled hard in midfield, winning their duels and moving the ball quickly on the tricky surface.

Bertie, Greeny and Mayson worked their back line hard and created several half-chances from their endeavours.

The Millers opened the scoring after a quick switch of play left Bertie one-on-one, and he calmly tucked the ball away.

Chances came and went to make it two before Salford took control of the game for the last 15 minutes of the half. They rightly equalised after the Millers failed to clear their lines at the second attempt, and the ball was slotted under Archie for 1–1. The Millers hung on until half-time against mounting pressure from Salford, and last-ditch defending plus excellent goalkeeping from Archie meant we went in at the break all square.

On came Alex at half-time as India moved into midfield to keep the energy levels high.

Stan slotted in at centre-back for Daniel and played with his usual calmness on the ball, which helped take the pressure off the team.

Alex defended superbly against a very tricky winger.

The Millers started the second half brightly and always carried a threat up front, with early chances for Greeny and Bertie, where last-ditch Salford defending was superb.

Salford took the lead as the Millers switched off from a throw-in, and the Salford winger calmly rolled them in front.

The Millers responded strongly and started to take control of midfield, with India, Jess and Fletcher dominating that area of the pitch for the team.

Bertie then scored a 25-yard thunderbolt after an excellent through ball from Jess.

The Millers rang the changes to try and finish the game strongly. On came Tommy and Greg to try and get us that winner.

After great link-up play between Tommy and Greg, the latter crossed for Bertie, who just couldn’t quite reach it to force home the winner after an excellent passage of play.

The game was really open for the last ten minutes as both teams went for the win. Salford forced the ball home after a left-wing cross found their striker, who rolled the ball in.

The Millers tried to respond again, but it was not to be today as Salford progressed into round three.

As coaches we were super proud of the whole group’s efforts in this game, which could have gone either way. The work rate, commitment and desire could not be questioned and were to be applauded.

Player of the Match was not awarded today as the coaches felt the team were all superb from start to finish. 👏👏👏

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#upthemillers