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Square Rangers 4 Barton
Rovers A 0
Saturday 19th April
South Beds Saturday U13
Cup final
Square Rangers added the SBSL U13 Divisional Cup to the league title
they had won four days earlier to make this a quite memorable week
for the boys.
With the Plate final running into extra time and then penalties
it meant the kick-off time was delayed so giving the boys ample
time to prepare for the game and grasp the sense of the occasion,
made all the more special with the use of changing rooms.
The conditions were not ideal especially for two teams who like
to get the ball down and play, clearly both teams would have to
face the problems of a bitterly chilly day, a strong gusty wind
against a slight uphill slope on a hard pitch. Square Rangers found
themselves facing the wind and the slope in the first half so naturally
it was Barton Rovers who took the incentive in the early stages.
The deadlock was broken midway through the half though from a great
header from Josh timing his leap perfectly inside the six yard box
from Jack’s long throw. This came as a result of some good
work down the Rangers right involving good link-up play from Joe
and Johnny. After the goal it was Barton who looked likely to score
next but some solid rearguard action from William, Josh and keeper
Jamie kept them at bay. All in all it was a dogged first half performance
from the Rangers boys faced with a congested midfield in tough conditions
they dug deep on their reserves to contain the opposition and take
a priceless 1-0 lead going into the break.
The second half, with the wind and slope of the pitch in their favour
saw Rangers adopt a more attacking formation and this nearly paid
off inside the first minute when only desperate defending denied
both Johnny and Peter. Their frustration was short lived however
as the same two combined to put Rangers 2-0 up as Peter latched
onto a fumble from the Barton keeper to score from close range.
Joe, producing a real captain’s performance then smashed a
great drive against the post midway through the half and as Barton
failed to get the ball clear Josh raced in and smashed a shot against
the same post again - this time however with the ball ending up
in the back of the net. By now Barton were probably rueing those
early first half chances and their frustration only increased further
when Faheem rifled home a great strike from Johnny’s cross
to put Rangers 4-0 up. With confidence high the boys continued their
high tempo football up to the final whistle to give them a wonderful
league and Cup double.
Summary:
Two halves of very different
football styles yet effective to the outcome of the game. The battling,
dogged defending with threatening counter attacking style of the
first half set up the more fluent potent threat of attacking play
in the second. The running power and passing from our midfield players
Jack, Spencer, Joe, Jake and Faheem together with the forward link-up
play of Johnny and Peter in the second half was always going to
cause Barton problems facing the disadvantage of the conditions.
The players probably learned a lot from this game in patience, and
the fact that sometimes you have to endure the laborious side of
football to earn the rich pickings that attractive football can
bring. A great achievement for this group of players to be League
and Cup winners - thoroughly deserved!!
Player of the match:
Again a real squad effort
with every player contributing to the success on the day.
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