Match Report- 26/08/2011 v Shelf Juniors U15s A (Away)

The game against an Under 15's Shelf was always going to be a tough game for the Lions. They faced a massive test of their physical ability, against a team who were crowned league champions last season at Under 14's, and who were much bigger in stature than their opponents.

Although Shelf managed a comfortable 7-1 win, the result certainly didn't do the young Lions any justice, in a game where they worked tirelessly and competed and matched their opponents for much of the game.

Wibsey Lions started the game brightly, and they were well up for the game, challenging Shelf for every ball. Damo and Davis kept things tight at the back, but Shelf looked very dangerous down the wings and Jake and Abel were finding it hard to keep them out.

Wibsey had a chance to take the lead early on, Connor fed the ball to Mikey, but his shot was blocked.

Shelf then had a period of domination, they were very strong on the ball and hit Wibsey hard, continually firing down the flanks and floating crosses in. To the defence's credit, Damien and Davis did well to win balls against much taller opponents, but Shelf eventually got their goal, a cross wasn't deal with by the defence and it was nudged in by the Shelf right midfielder.

Although the Lions worked hard off the ball, they were not comfortable in possession, and kept giving it away. Play was a little negative up to Connor Rhodes, but he did very well as a target man again.

Shelf scored a second and third mid-way through the first half, possibly against the run of play, as Wibsey had been a little unlucky not to score themselves, Brad Hawes got into two brilliant positions but one shot was saved comfortably and the other was put wide.

Debutant Ryan Archer took a little while to get going, but showed some real class towards the back end of the half, playing in some good passes to Connor Rhodes, he had a shot but it went wide. However to his credit, Wibsey weren't giving much service to him.

The midfield had a hard job, Shelf were a real ball-winning team, and Nathan, Callum and Mikey did an excellent job to compete.

Half Time- Wibsey 0-3 Shelf

The second half continued similarly to the first. Wibsey had patches where they looked very good, Ryan Archer moved into the middle with Nathan Khan, and the midfield tried to play more football. Wibsey looked stronger up front, with Michael Brooksbank relieving the pressure on Connor Rhodes who had a very hard task on his own.

Shelf looked more dangerous, and continuously hammered the Wibsey flanks. It was a tough game for Davis and Damo, but they put up a very good fight. Inevitably Shelf took a few more chances going 5-0 up, the first was spilt by keeper Mathew Hale, and the second was a scored when the Shelf striker rounded Hale in goals, and possibly held him back, but again the referee awarded the goasl.
Shelf were awarded another goal, but it was well off-side. A disappointing decision for the Lions, which they certainly didn't deserve.

Wibsey created a few more chances, Mikey Brooksbank and Ryan Archer looked very lively and both came painfully close to scoring a goal. However Wibsey's goal came with 8 minutes to go. Davis Peel fired a free-kick from the halfway line, the keeper spilt it, and Connor Rhodes took two attempts but eventually found the back of the net. Connor had being playing very well today, especially again a defence who were physically matched with him.

Wibsey created a few more chances, Jake Gilederdale was fed the ball out wide on the right wing, and Callum Docherty worked tirelessly in the middle to ensure Wibsey didn't give up. Nathan Khan also put in some key headers in the middle.

Unfortunately Shelf put the final nail in the coffin. Skipper Damo Hields mis-kicked the ball on the near post and sliced it into his own net, a disappointing end to the game, especially for Damien who had put in a very good performance today.

Full Time- Wibsey 1-7 Shelf Juniors U15's.

Goals

Connor Rhodes (62)


Man of the Match

Connor Rhodes: Connor has had a fantastic start to his Wibsey Lions career, but today was by far his toughest test, which he undertook admirably! Connor was battling against players who were physically very strong and quick, and he did an excellent job of holding the ball up, and he proved to be a handful throughout the match, especially when sometimes he was on his own.


Manager Comments

Firstly, we need to forget about the result, because it didn't reflect our hard work and effort. I am very proud of all your efforts today boys, for most of the match we gave as good as we could, 100% effort from you all, especially against a very very good side. We won't play a team anywhere near as good this season, so this was a good test to see if we could compete against a team who were physically better. We looked as good as them for large parts of the game. Yes, we weren't perfect, but even when we were losing by several goals, we didn't give up. We kept on going and working hard and I am very pleased with our attitude! Well done boys.. we showed a lot of character today!!