Match report

Match report

Woodside Warriors U9 Blue against Strathalbyn U9 Red

With Euro 2020 on at the moment and offering some really entertaining and dramatic football, we were hoping our U9s would take inspiration from Griezmann and Mbappe’s lightening forward runs, Italy’s dominance, Denmark’s bravery and Scotland’s dogged determination against the Auld Enemy earlier that morning as they hosted Strathalbyn Red this week on a soggy pitch at the Rec Grounds.

Woodside won the toss and elected to kick off, immediately applying pressure to Strath and taking the game to the visitors. The Warriors had the lion’s share of possession and chances in the first half, confining Strath to their own end of the pitch and creating at least four good scoring opportunities, including an Austin Levy shot that whistled wide. Despite this it was Strath who had the ball in the net first, catching Woodside on the break and squeezing in a shot that only just beat the Warriors’ keeper. Woodside continued to knock at the door for the remainder of the first half but were frustrated by a resolute Strath defence and went into the break still looking for an opening.

The Warriors knew that in the second half they had to turn possession into goal-scoring opportunities to get anything out of the game, and this week’s captain Noah Paech took up the challenge and broke through the Strath defence to score and open Woodside’s account for the week. Strath managed to find a reply to leave Woodside chasing the game again, but to their credit our under 9s kept their heads up, continuing to press Strath to win possession and showing real progress with their passing. Tommy Garden and Lachlan Mitchell dropped back from midfield into defensive roles to nullify further Strath attacks, which allowed the relatively fresh defenders to move forward and bring new energy to the midfield. This tactic paid off, with Calum Magee showing a lovely bit of skill to beat a couple of Strath defenders and find the net. The Warriors went looking for more, but time wasn’t on their side and the final whistle brought an entertaining and tense match to a close.

Woodside were unfortunate not to come away with more from this game but Strath deserve a lot of credit for absorbing significant pressure and taking their chances with a team who all played the full 40 minutes. Thank you to Andrew for refereeing again this week and to Peter for helping organize and warm-up the team.