|
Two entertaining, closely fought games saw another set of contrasting results for Hitchin U7s at home to a tall, strong and competitive Pin Green outfit.
Game 1 saw Kane return in goal after a few games outfield, Patrick and Stephen in defence, Max and James in midfield supporting William and Sam Hartnack in attack. After, by his standards, a quiet few games on the goal-scoring front, William helped Hitchin make a flying start with a mazy run and unstoppable near-post finish in the first minute. Buoyed with confidence, the boys poured forward and James came close to doubling the lead as his firm shot from the edge of the area missed the post by inches.
Making his second start, Max was Hitchin’s very own “Makelele”, shielding and covering the defence and making some great tackles and interceptions. He formed a solid unit with Patrick and Stephen and Hitchin never looked like conceding.
Pin Green were much sharper in the second half and pulled level with a neat finish after a left-wing cross eluded the Hitchin defence. The match looked to be heading for a draw before Max scored his first goal – and what a goal! The Pin Green keeper was subbed after a collision with Sam and his replacement’s first action was to pick the ball out of the net after a spectacular effort from inside the centre circle gave Hitchin a deserved win. A special mention to Stephen’s dad who celebrated with gusto before remembering he was the referee and had to re-start play!
HITCHIN 2 PIN GREEN 1
More Rafa-style rotation for Game 2 as Sam Henshaw replaced Kane in goal with Kai, Jonathan, Daniel, Joel, Vinay and Ben completing the line-up. This was a much closer game than the score line would indicate and the result was in the balance until the last few minutes. Hitchin came closest to scoring after 2 minutes when Ben knocked a beautifully flighted corner from Joel onto the crossbar. Hitchin were busy and competitive in midfield and attack. Vinay, Joel and Daniel made some good runs and Ben was a very solid presence in midfield, with some strong tackles and good passing. Pin Green were slightly fortunate to lead 1-0 at the break. The second half saw Kane and Louis come on and Kai replace Sam Henshaw in goal. The match remained very close until the last few minutes when Pin Green took their chances to run-out 4-0 winners.
HITCHIN 0 PIN GREEN 4
|
