Hithercroft Under 16s - Friendly (31/08/2003)
2003 - 2004 Season, Hithercroft Youth



This was our second friendly and took place on a sunny morning with a light breeze blowing that made for ideal conditions. The ground was hard but the grass had been recently cut. Chris Little was our referee and Jonny ran the line for the Youth team. Arron, Chris, Kevin and Kyle were unavailable.

The game kicked off at 11.12am with Anthony and Stevie on the touchline for the first half. The first goal attempt came from the U16’s Tyrone Francis but his shot hit the post. After 5 minutes of play the U16s took the lead with a goal by their No 9. They then went on the attack again, taking the ball down the left wing and a shot from the No 11 also hit the upright. The Youth team were awarded a corner and Loz Dunn sent the ball into the goal area from where Jamaine Warner took a shot but this was blocked. The U16’s No 7 took the ball down the right and sent in a shot but Simon Mines pushed the ball round the post to concede a corner. Simon had to repeat this just a few minutes later when Tyrone tried another shot. Then Ralph Kheir, for the Youth team, went on a run and played a great pass with the outside of his foot to Jamaine on the wing but Jamaine’s shot went wide. Matt Seaton tried a shot from some way out but the ball went straight at to the U16’s goalkeeper. Richard McBarnett missed an open goal when Loz took a free kick from just inside the U16’s half and floated the ball into the goal area for Richard to run onto. The first half had seen the U16s playing good, simple football with straight-forward inter-passing but the Youth team had played more as individuals, showing off fancy footwork but not a lot of team-work. There was plenty of end-to-end play but no further goals were scored from either team.

For the second half, which kicked off at 12.05pm, Anthony Disson and Stevie Ling came on to replace Richard McBarnett and Shahid Ahmad and various positional changes were made to the Youth team. Within the first minute, following a goal-mouth scramble, Anthony had levelled the score but by 12.07 the Youth team was again one goal down when Tyrone’s shot hit the crossbar, the ball was pushed clear but was headed home by an U16’s attacker. Corners from the right by Ralph and from the left by Dewayne Dublin yielded nothing for the Youth team. Then the U16’s No 12 took the ball down the middle, forcing Simon to come forward and block his shot. The Youth team were awarded a free kick which was taken by Ralph and he chipped the ball over the defensive wall but the U16’s keeper pushed the ball over the bar. Loz took the resulting corner which Stevie then headed over the crossbar. There were opportunities for both sides to add to their scores but many shots were either off-target or cleared by the opposing keepers. Stevie took a corner from the right and sent the ball high across to Ralph, whose shot was blocked, and the ball came out to Dewayne, his shot being deflected to give the Youth side another corner. Stevie sent the ball across to Dewayne, on the left, and he passed the ball into the goal area where Anthony hit the ball into the U16’s net to level the score at 12.40pm. Anthony had another opportunity just after this, turning towards goal and striking the ball on-target but was denied by the keeper. At 12.52pm the Youth team took the lead when Dewayne played the ball out to Anthony, who then returned it for Dewayne to slot it home as he came in from the left. The final chance fell to the U16’s when Tyrone ran through the Youth defence but he sent his shot wide and the final whistle then blew giving the Youth team victory by 3 goals to 2.

This game had been most enjoyable, demonstrating the skills of both sides and it bodes well for the future season for both teams. Special mentions should be made of Tyrone for the U16s for his skill and determination and to Ralph of the Youth team for the same reason. Also, Richard Vere had played a superb game in defence for the Youth team, using both his head and feet to clear the ball on many occasions.



Hithercroft Youth scorers:- Anthony (2), Dewayne

Hithercroft U16 scorers:- No 9, No ?