Wizards season ends in brave defeat

Barhill Lads Aces 2 Unicorn Wizards 1

Sunday May 20th 2012

Timperley and District Junior Football League – Under 15s Division 1

It was obvious right from the kick off that this was a game that Barhill needed to win as they snapped into tackles, showing real urgency in their play.

The Wizards first attempt on goal came after 8 minutes, when Marc’s free-kick beat the wall but was gathered above his head by the home keeper.

Barrhill penetrated the Wizards defence on 12 minutes, when a through ball gave the home striker a clear run on goal. With no defensive colleagues in sight, Jack sprinted out of the box to make a fine blocking save to clear the danger. This was an excellent piece of work from Jack who had the twin challenges of making a difficult save, whilst having to be careful not to handle the ball. He achieved both objectives with great skill and alertness.

After 15 minutes, Barrhill took the lead. A Wizards goal kick was intercepted and quickly played back into the box, where the Barrhill striker was on hand to finish well.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors after 22 minutes, when Barrhill doubled their lead. A long through ball proved to be their undoing, with the striker doing well to collect the ball and beat his man before making no mistake with his finish.

Half Time – Barhill 2 Wizards 0

Jack was having another fine game today and kept his team in the game during the early stages of the second half with a top class save.

The Wizards pulled a goal back after 48 minutes in unusual circumstances. George Edmundson took a corner which curled goalwards and with the keeper unable to gather, found its way into the net.

With the tension rising, a Barrhill player overstepped the mark on 60 minutes and received a yellow card for dissent.

The game opened up as the Wizards pressed for an equaliser, with spaces appearing for Barrhill to exploit. Jack made another fine save on 67 minutes and the Wizards then survived a Barrhill attack when, at one point, they were outnumbered by three or four to one.

Despite being under pressure, the Wizards came agonisingly close to an equaliser 10 minutes before the end when George hit a powerful drive just past the post, after good work from Jake Foy.

Barrhill held out for the remainder of the game clinching the three points they needed to keep the title race open. They must now beat Wilmslow Albion in midweek to set up a title deciding play-off with Wilmslow Town.

From the Wizards perspective, despite ending in defeat, this performance summed up the team’s improvement over the course of the season. Previously, going 2 – 0 down in the first half against title challengers, would probably have resulted in the Wizards being on the receiving end of a comprehensive defeat. This Wizards team dug in and despite not playing at the very top of their game, came close to grabbing an unlikely point.

The challenge now is to build on the performances of the last couple of months and see where this might lead next season.

Full time – Barrhill 2 Unicorn Wizards 1

Man of the Match – Mr Consistency, Jake Wilson, receives this week’s award for doing what he does every week, producing a reliable, effective display at left back.

The season would not be complete without a review of the facts and figures, so here is the key data for the season:

Ever Presents – Well done to Joe Brown and George Edmundson for featuring in all 24 games played. Honourable mentions to Matt Bellingham, Jake Wilson and Alex Bird for only missing a single game each.

Goals Scored – The top scorer was Jake Foy with 11 goals, pipping his mate Alex Bird by a single goal to give him the bragging rights over the summer.

Assists – Well done again to Jake Foy with 8 assists. Marc Bellingham came next with 7, a good return from his 14 games played.

Player of the Match – At the risk of sounding repetitive, Jake Foy again with 4 awards, one ahead of James Phillips on 3. We should also note that all current squad members, (with the exception of Dave Hanley, who looked likely to win one before being injured in only his fifth appearance), have received a player of the match award during the course of the season. Well done to all squad members.

Cautions – The unwanted recipient of the Wizards single yellow card was George Edmundson. Let’s try for a clean sheet next season.

Wizards Line Up