Report

Blimey, blinkin’ flip and wahoo! There are not enough superlatives to describe the way the boys played today – a hero in every strip, a team performance to be hugely proud of,  a man of the match in every pair of boots. We saved possibly our best performance of the season for the very last game, against a superb Hoddesdon  team that had not lost or drawn a game for a very long time.

We’d conceded 13 goals with no reply in the two games against our opposition  earlier in the season, so we knew we would be up against it again this morning.  On a surprisingly sunny, but blustery, morning we found ourselves playing on a pitch patchier than a piebald thoroughbred and thinner than Twiggy after a month’s fasting.

The match started with a prolonged spell of Hoddesdon pressure,  but with the boys soaking up everything that was thrown at them. Will in particular was immense, commanding his box with ease and pulling off a string of top-class saves. As a team, our defensive play was superb , everyone playing a part in tracking back and tackling with strength. We had the odd chance ourselves, but this match was less about scoring and more about not conceding.  

Unfortunately another superb save from Will saw the ball rebound to a Hoddesdon player who went on to score and we found ourselves 1 down. At this stage I was worried the boys heads might go down, and that the game would have started to resemble our previous games against the same opposition – but I really should have known better. The belief the boys have in themselves  is unquestionable, and despite continued Hoddeson pressure and more superb goalkeeping from Will, we found ourselves still in the game as the half time whistle approached.  Some great approach play saw Jaydn, who was having a wonderful game, make some space for himself at the edge of the box, look up, and subsequently hit an unstoppable shot into the top left corner.  Whistle blown, half time and  1-1.

The second half carried on in much the same vein, Will making some brilliant saves, Charlie and Matt wall-like in their defensive duties, and everyone else playing their part in keeping Hoddesdon at bay. We went 2~1 down with another great save from Will rebounding again to a Hoddesdon player who slotted the ball home with ease.  However we kept battling on, as we do, and got our reward with another superb goal from Jay who found himself clear on the right and seeing half a chance he hit the ball home from a very tight angle, More superb saves from Wills saw the full-time whistle blow at 2~2, and a very tired, but inspired, Blues side finished the season in style.

This was a performance of incredible strength and application, everyone playing a part in a superb team performance against the best team in our league. The boys can be justly proud of themselves, every last one of them was immense, and the decision for MoM was a wonderfully difficult one to make. In the end we left it to the Hoddesdon coach to make it, and he rightly awarded to Will for the best goalkeeping performance I’ve seen in ten years at the club, and to Jaydn for his superb attacking play and two brilliant goals. But that doesn’t diminish everyone else – I cannot stress how brilliant, to a boy, they were today.

What a way to finish the season. Magnificent.

Will – It will be a long time before a goalkeeper at WYFC betters this performance. MoM #1.
Cookie – Stunning, solid as a rock (to quote Ashford and Simpson for all you pop-pickers out there)
Matt – Wonderful, amazing defensive play
Ed – Brilliant, a wonderful display
Euan – Huge for us today,  everywhere all morning, superb
Billy – Excellent attacking play, ran his socks off
Jaydn – Stunning today, two superb goals, superb wing play – MoM#2
Riley – Brilliant, strong, skillfull, and some great mid-field play
Liam – Always a danger up front, unlucky not to score, another great performance