A rainy Sunday morning against one of the strongest opponents we have faced this season. The muddy pitch was a clear indicator that it was going to be tough outing.
The match kicked off on time and the opposition were aggressive from the get go. They definitely wanted to win this game. Our defending was excellent and so was our goalkeeper. We did not have much time on the ball, but whenever we did we counterattacked and tried to show our intentions. We had a couple of shots on target but their goalkeeper did not face any problems at to this point.
13 minutes into the match. Harvesters created an attack on our left side but our defence was once again exceptional. Noah received the ball and passed it to the right side of the field towards Freddie to create a counter attack. Freddie dribbled into the opposition’s area and two defenders tackled him. The referee was really close to it and he did not hesitate to blow his whistle and award a penalty for us. Noah stepped to take the penalty. Once the referee blew his whistle Noah took the penalty and, with a great finish on the bottom left corner of the goal, he put us in front. The rest of the first half we defended really well and eliminated any threats and so the opposition did not manage to equalise. HT 1-0 BFA.
During half-time the players were encouraged to keep up the great work and try to keep the ball as much as possible in order to slow down the opposition and take control over the midfield area.
The second half did not start off well for us. The opposition scored a quick goal and they kept on pushing. They were more aggressive and kept winning all 1v1s in the midfield. We did not give up and managed to score once again with a counterattack after Rupert drove with the ball and passed to Phillip who dribbled through the defence and he took a low shot near the bottom left corner giving us the lead. 2-1 to BFA.
Then Harvesters pushed higher, increasing their tempo and work-rate. They managed to score 2 quick goals and turned the match in their favour. They kept the high pressure and we could not keep up as a result to concede 1 more goal to make it 4-2.
In the last 5 minutes of the match our players did not give up and tried to gain something from the match. We changed the formation from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 with 2 strikers this time. The new formation helped us going forward, as we were more aggressive and Phillip once again managed to score another goal giving us hope.
Unfortunately, this formation had some negative consequences as well. When we overloaded our attacks it was easy for the opposition to counterattack and take advantage of the open space behind our defensive line. This provided them many opportunities to threaten our goal and they did not hold back, scoring the last goal of the match FT 5-3 loss. At the end, our players were disappointed, because many mistakes happened during the match, but they were reminded that everyone makes mistakes including their coaches. They were encouraged to reflect on themselves and what to improve for next time.
My favourite moment would be when Noah scored the penalty. It boosted our confidence and gave us the strength to push hard and go win something from this very tough match. It is really difficult for me to choose a man of the match, since we had really good individual performances, so it would be unfair for me to exclude our players’ tireless efforts.
We did not have any training this week due to half-term which affected us negatively. We did not have the time to talk, analyse, explain our plans and ideas to the players and what we need to improve and focus on. We learn from our mistakes, and we always try to improve. We performed really well for so many months so it is only logical to underperform in one match. I believe we should focus on our past performances and try to reach that desired level once again. Up the Blooms!
It was the final fixture in the group stages of the WFL Spring Cup and the mission was clear for the U14s: win and we would proceed to the semi-finals! The match started quickly with Whetstone having an early shot at goal, which was saved by Alex. BFA set up to build from the goalkeeper, with centre backs Levi and Gavin, split on each side of the box. Midfielders, Jake and Straz, on the edge of the box ready to receive and fullbacks Seb and Manny hugging the touchline to provide width. Rubens, who was standing on the last defender called for a long pass and Alex played a perfectly weighted long ball in behind the opposition defence. This caught them by surprise and provided the first opportunity for Rubens to show his blistering speed. He finished with great composure in front of goal. His running power, trickery and willingness to run beyond would be a constant threat and was a sign of things to come!
However, after having initial success from the long ball, we started to play very direct football, favouring longer passes instead of looking to build our attacks with shorter passing and combination play. This led to an end-to-end game more similar to a basketball match!
3 quick-fire goals from Whetstone provided a wake-up call for the team and we were now trailing 3-1 with qualification for the knockout stages in jeopardy. BFA found it difficult to deal with long balls up to the striker, often letting the ball bounce which was causing our defence lots of problems. Yacine, who has become a real leader for this team, with his tireless work rate and quality 1v1 dribbling, managed to score a crucial goal just before half-time, poking the ball past the opposition goalkeeper.
The message at half-time was to focus on our own performance and to keep believing in ourselves and each other. The team was encouraged to try and implement a shorter passing game and to use the wide areas to progress the ball as the centre of the pitch was very congested. James challenged the team to score 3 second-half goals and to secure qualification from the group stages.
The second half was a better performance as we started to create chance after chance. Attackers, Rubens, Yacine, John, George, Jack and Straz all looked dangerous and had opportunities to score. However, Rubens, who was playing his first game back after suffering a hip injury, was the one to make the difference, putting in a player of the match performance, scoring 4 second-half goals. The final score was 6-4 to BFA and we are through to the semi-finals of the Spring Cup!
Despite the improvement in the second half, there were still many areas to improve upon, particularly having the confidence and ability to build through midfield and keep possession under pressure from the opposition. A huge shout out to Seb Darnell, who played the whole game out of position at left back, as he was covering for absentees who normally play in this position. He put in a great performance, stopping opposition attacks down the right flank and picking his passes well from the back.
BFA took a break from the Spring Cup and returned to league action this week with an away trip to Alexandra Park. We set out on the front foot, creating numerous chances yet failed to put them away. BFA finally got the breakthrough when Levi lashed home a rebound into the far post after Ned’s initial shot was parried right into his path. Alexandra Park set out to punish our high line with numerous high balls testing our defenders. We struggled to cope with this and they soon found an equaliser completely against the run of play, as a ball was allowed to drop between our centre half and goalkeeper which they pounced on.
BFA found the lead once again when Luke was on hand to fire home a cool finish after setting himself with a great first touch following some good build up play down our right hand side. Another mix up at the back allowed Alexandra Park to find another equaliser just before the break. 2-2 at half time.
We sat deeper in the second half, trying to nullify the long ball and encourage shorter play which would allow us to press high in the final third. It was another long ball that proved to be our undoing, this time from a deep set piece, which was allowed to bounce in the box before it was converted, unchallenged…
Philo was then shown two yellow cards in less than a minute for supposed “dissent”. If apologising to a referee counts as dissent then I’m a unicorn. However, BFA rallied together after this. A couple of changes in shape and personnel allowed us to regain control of the game.
Eliot Hyseni was terrorising Alexandra Parks centre half the entire game, but it was Alexey who was brought down in the box after some silky footwork. Eliot stepped up to slot home the penalty. He was teed up shortly after, once again by Alexey for his second of the game, spinning the defender under touch tight pressure to coolly finish into the far corner. He completed his hat trick with a couple of minutes left in the match, the highlight and player of the match. This was a resounding performance and well deserved victory in the end despite the difficulties we placed on ourselves.
No training this week during half term probably contributed to our sluggishness. We need to focus on dealing with high balls, keep the intensity high at training and keep building and maintaining positive relationships on and off the pitch!
LET’S KEEP UP THE HARD WORK!
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