2007/2008 Match Reports

10/11/07 - U10 Match Report - Graveley 2, Little Paxton 2

2007/2008 - Under 10s Match Reports

Our first ever cup game against top of the league Little Paxton. Not quite a full squad today with Joe unable to make it, but 2 of our players put their football team ahead of their future education.

Seb was captain today and played at the heart of the defence with Matt. Little Paxton kicked off and showed immediately what a good side they are, keeping the ball well and playing in triangles. Paxton created a number of chances during the first half with Lewis making 2 or 3 outstanding saves to keep them out. It seemed only a matter of time before Paxton would score and they did from a corner. We couldn't quite clear the ball and the Paxton striker finished well after a ricochet.  We kept our heads up and created some chances ourselves, Grace, Jamie and Jon all coming close.

The second half was a different story with the wind behind us. Jordan could have scored but didn't quite make a good enough contact with the ball, Jamie put one wide from just outside the area, and Seb couldn't quite get a shot away from a corner. However, we kept going and refused to give up. After a lot of pressure, James popped up in the area to score at the far post for a well-deserved equaliser. From the kickoff we could have scored again - Jon making a fantastic run from his own half, passing to Jamie who put it just wide of the far post.

And so it was 1-1 at full time and 10 minutes of extra time started. Again we started against the wind and Paxton piled forward looking for a goal. Again, they scored following a corner, this time Grace being the unlucky one and slicing a clearance past a stranded Lewis. Paxton kept coming looking for further goals but our defence held firm led superbly by Matt and well supported by Seb, with Lewis saving anything that got through them both.

The second half of extra time started and we were on the attack. Lewis went up for a corner but was unable to get his head on the ball before having to sprint back to make sure we didn't concede another goal. And then with 2 minutes to go, James had a shot across goal, the goalkeeper palmed it out and Jon tapped home at the far post to send the home fans wild.

Penalties followed and many of the fans couldn't bear to watch - for those who can't remember they went like this:

	Graveley	Little Paxton
	Jamie - scored (1-0)	Saved (1-0)
	Lewis - hit over bar (1-0)	Scored (1-1)
	Jon - scored (2-1)	Scored (2-2)
	Jordan - scored (3-2)	Scored (3-3)
	Matt - saved (3-3)	Missed (3-3)
	Grace - missed left (3-3)	Saved (3-3)
	James - scored (4-3)	Hit post (4-3)

And so we won 4-3 on penalties after 2 rounds of sudden death.

It was an unbelievable game of football. Paxton were very unlucky as they played extremely well (and hit the post twice and the crossbar), but we never gave up and played our best football of the season so far. Everyone was great today whether in goal, defence, midfield or attack. Man of the match went to Jon for his tireless running up and down the pitch. A fantastic team performance - well done!