Bergholt Heath Under 8s travelled to Bures after having a week off due to the weather. Bergholt mounted the first attack almost straight from the kick off, however most of the first half play was spent in the Bergholt half as Bures had corner after corner – but the Bergholt defence held firm. The one time the defence was breached Daniel pulled off a fantastic save, diving full length to push the ball round the post. Half time: 0-0.
The Second half saw Bergholt take advantage of the wind and the slight slope. They managed more possession than the previous 15 minutes and pinned their hosts back in their half of the pitch for the majority of the half. This allowed the Bergholt full-backs to get forward to support the midfield, which was pleasing. There were no goals in this half either – Bergholt had the potential to change this, but a last ditch rugby tackle by the Bures defender saw Theo tumble to the ground just outside the area.
Final score: 0-0 – a fair result. Bergholt Heath ‘man of the match’ went to Joseph Watkins for great performance in both defence and supporting the attack.
The Under 10s were also playing after an enforced break, at home to Long Melford. The game was a bit of déjà vu as a couple of weeks ago a defensive error after a couple of minutes let Melford take the lead. Bergholt then had a good period of possession but were guilty of holding onto the ball too long; too many of the boys wanted the glory themselves when a better option was available. Just before half time a corner from Matt fell kindly for Tyler in the box, who finished well. GOOOAALL!
The second half was end-to-end with both teams having chances. Melford had several good runs down the right – some were stopped, some went wide and some had fingers crossed and Bergholt got away with. At the other end, just as in the first half, options were there but the boys hurried shots far too many times. The one time Bergholt did play the right ball, Dan had a great chance in the area. He shot across the ‘keeper to the far corner but unfortunately the ball went wide. Finally Bergholt got the breakthrough. Good work by Nathan on the right saw him cross for Richard who poked home. 2-1. Melford were not downhearted though, and all their good work down their left finally paid off with an equaliser.
A good game and a 2-2 draw was probably a fair result. Bergholt Heath ‘man of the match’ went to Tyler who was one of the few who really battled today.
The Under 14s hosted Stanway Rovers in the Open Cup Quarter Finals. It was a slow start by the Bergholt boys and Stanway were looking the more likely to score, but after 10 minutes Max Booth set James Holden clear down the left and he cut inside and finished coolly from a narrow angle to open the scoring. Soon after, a hopeful ball into the Stanway penalty area was not dealt with and with the Stanway defence looking at each other to deal with the bouncing ball James Holden took advantage of the situation and headed over the advancing keeper to put Bergholt 2-0 up.
Stanway’s pacey front men kept the back 4 on their toes, but Bergholt were relatively comfortable for the remainder of the half and started the second in similar fashion. Leo Tiffney and Ben Ashurst had efforts on goal that were deflected wide. Approaching midway through the half a corner from Max Booth was flicked on by Sam Clark and a Stanway defender was unlucky to head the ball past the keeper and into his own net for 3-0.
It was now just a case of staying in control while getting all the players some game time as Stanway gave a good push to get back in the game. They broke down the left and when they beat Connor Welfare in the Bergholt goal, Aaron Marley did well to get back but he couldn’t quite clear the shot away and it was 3-1. Neither side really created another clear opportunity although Jake Adams was blatantly brought down by the Stanway keeper, but the referee failed to award Bergholt the penalty. It didn’t matter in the end though as Bergholt moved into the semi-finals of the Open Cup, after reaching the same stage of the League Cup in their previous game.
Final score: Bergholt Heath 3 – 1 Stanway Rovers. The parents awarded Connor Welfare the Man of the Match for his excellent handling and the way he commanded his penalty area.
Unfortunately the Under 18s had to cancel their last ever league game in youth football as the manager could not raise a team due to injury and other commitments. That just leaves at least one cup match to come before most hang up their boots.
Next weeks fixtures, Sunday 24th March:
- Under 8 v Oyster Youth KO 11am
- Stanway Villa Green v Under 10
- Under 14 v Stanway Rovers KO 10.30am (league)
- Boxford Rovers v Under 18 – LC QF