Bergholt Heath YFC – Results 9th February
With both away matches again called off due to waterlogged pitches, it left just the one scheduled home game to go ahead on the 7 vs 7 pitch at the top of the Poors Field – the Under 9’s vs Reed Hall Sentinels. Had the Under 15’s been due to play at home then this too would have fallen foul of the weather as there was standing water in the last third of the pitch (near the Treble Tile).
BHYFC Under 9s vs Reed Hall Sentinels
After an early morning inspection, the pitch was deemed playable and so Bergholt took on Reed Hall Sentinels in very blustery conditions. The wind was blowing from one end to the other and so advantage was always going to be with the team who had the wind behind their backs. For the first half this was Reed Hall Sentinels so it was important for Bergholt to hold them and go into half-time at least level.
Despite kicking into the wind it was Bergholt who made the brightest start with the Baker brothers in particular leading the charge, especially Ollie who was keen to add to his goal tally for the season and was shooting on sight. In fact Bergholt’s other midfielder, Thomas Haworth, scored the first goal, speeding down the right wing before unleashing a fierce low drive which passed the keeper before he had a chance to react.
This then started Reed Hall’s fight back and the majority of the first half was played out in the Bergholt half. Some excellent defending from Bergholt repelled attack after attack. In one of these plays Eddie put in a great tackle but unfortunately came off worse and twisted his knee which ended his game. This was a shame for Eddie, especially as just previous to that he had gone on a excellent solo run, taking the ball out of defence to attack. Just before the half-time whistle, Bergholt’s defence was finally breached when a strong shot was saved by Daniel but the combination of the spin of the ball and the strong wind took the ball agonisingly inches over the line before he had chance to reclaim it. HT 1-1.
At half-time the Bergholt manager used as many footballing clichés as he could “we can win this” and “the next goal is the most important” were two in particular that stick in the memory….. So with these pearls of wisdom still fresh in the memory, Bergholt kicked off the second half looking to get that all important goal. As with the first half, the majority of the better football was played by the team with the wind and Bergholt started to pass the ball much more fluently which in turn opened the game out. It also meant that the two full backs, Billy and Thomas L were also able to exploit the wide areas and get forward themselves to support James and Thomas H who too were having success down the wings. Theo and Ollie were also continuing to push forward and trying to get their names on the score sheet but both were thwarted by the Reed Hall goalkeeper. Not wishing to miss out on the party, Freddie too came close when his free-kick only just went over the bar.
So, once again it looked like heading for a draw as Reed Hall, when they went on the attack, were stopped by some super, if a little frantic, defending from Bergholt. However, in the last dying seconds of the match, Freddie picked up the ball in the area between defence and midfield and ran at the Reed Hall defence. In a similar manner to an Olympic slalom skier at Sochi, he jinxed past one, then another before finding himself just outside the box where he hit a pile driver. It took a slight deflection off the defender’s knee which in turn meant that when it bounced on the ground in front of the keeper it kicked up off the mud (no turf, just mud…) and bounced over the keeper’s dive. FT 2-1.
This was Bergholt’s first win of 2014 made even more special by the appearance of the chairman of the club, Les, who turned up to watch the team for the first time since it’s formation at the beginning of last season!!
Bergholt Heath Player of the Match: Freddie Geiger – some excellent clearances and a fantastic match-winning run and goal.
Next week’s matches: Sunday 16th February:
- Oyster Youth vs. Under 9
- Under 11 – No game
- Stanway Rovers vs. Under 15