Reed Hall vs. Under 8s. As Bergholt Heath U8s are traditionally slow starters and concede early goals, their manager decided to alter the formation this week and play 3 in defence for the first half. The boys took well to the new shape and kept Reed Hall at bay and in fact shaded it as the better team at the break. They nearly got their reward when a handball in the Reed Hall area gave Bergholt a chance to take the lead. A well struck penalty by Theo, low towards the corner of the net, was stopped by a fantastic save from the Reed Hall keeper. HT 0-0.
With the team showing they were adapting well to the new way of playing, the Bergholt manager kept the same formation for the second half. Things however didn’t go according to plan though, when a Bergholt goal kick fell to the Reed Hall striker on the centre circle and he hit it a superb first time shot back into the empty net. This seemed to be the catalyst for Reed Hall to take control of the game and a number of errors by Bergholt proved costly as Reed Hall ended up 5-0 winners.
Despite the defeat, a number of positives to come out of the game and some food for thought on future games.
Our Under 10s were also away – as all teams were this week – to Boadicea Dynamos. Featuring a few very good players, the manger knew this would be a tough match, and although Bergholt took the lead through a goal by Tyler Webb, the final score of 1-1 was a point gained.
Yet another away fixture, this time for the Under 14s, to Stanway Rovers. Bergholt’s confidence was sky high after 3 consecutive wins, however they were up against a team that did the double over them last season. Bergholt started the stronger of the two teams dominating the first minutes of the game. The breakthrough came after just 2 minutes when a corner was delivered towards the back post by Max Booth. It got a touch on the way through but was kept on by Sam Clark who had the composure to pull it back to Oliver Sanderson who’s shot took a deflection that wrong footed the keeper and dropped into the far corner. 1-0 Bergholt. The next 15 minutes was fairly even but Bergholt were still having the better of the chances. But then the last 10 minutes of the half ended the same as the first 10 begun, with Bergholt piling on the pressure. A Mickey Whittle shot was goal bound was cleared off the line brilliantly. The resulting corner was taken by Oliver Sanderson and a glancing header at the near post by Jamie Bowden clipped the far post and spun in for his first goal for around two years.
Half time: Stanway Rovers 0-2 Bergholt Heath.
Stanway began the second half stronger, as a lazy Bergholt team had slowed their momentum. This resulted in an early second half goal from Stanway: A long throw was misjudged by the defender which left the goalkeeper stranded for as simple finish. Was the comeback on?
The answer was no! Conceding the goal brought Bergholt back to life and after dominating the rest of the match, with around 5 minutes remaining a long ball down the line was picked up by James Holden who cut inside of his man to strike at goal. However the keeper made a fantastic save but unfortunately for him, it fell at the feet of Jake Adams who blasted it into the empty net from inside the 6 yard box.
Full time: Stanway Rovers 1-3 Bergholt Heath.
Man of the Match: Jamie Bowden
The Under 18s completed the set of away fixtures, at Broomfield Youth. Managing to field just a bare 11 players with nobody available to fill the substitutes bench due to several injuries, including a couple with broken bones, Bergholt put up a fight but eventually lost the match 1-0.
Next weeks fixtures, Sunday 20th January:
- Under 8 v Gt Bradfords KO 11am
- Under 10 v Halstead Town Yellows KO 10am
- Under 14 v Halstead KO 10.30am
- Reed Hall Sentinels v Under 18