20/21 The Word in the Wood #6

Posted on 17th October, 2020

U11 Boys have been in outstanding form this season and continued by thumping in four of the best against an excellent London Colney Lions today at Pursley.

 

The impressive Lennon drilled home the first with a sweetly struck shot, before Zain waded in with two beautifully finished efforts that savaged the Pursley nets. Joel added a fourth in what is fast becoming a very productive season for him, while Josh scooped MoM, putting on a display of energy and endeavour that was warmly applauded by the Wood's massed ranks.

 

After only forming just prior to the season starting, this team has exceeded all expectations already and we look forward to following their footballing adventures with great anticipation.

 

Also, in excellent form, our U10 Boys faced a tough test in the local derby against Borehamwood Youth Templars. The match was a brilliant advert for the local game with the whole squad putting in a spirited shift. As he so often does, Dragos was deadly in front of goal and bagged yet another as he curled the ball home expertly, while Bailey picked up MoM after a performance that saw him run hard throughout and defend quite superbly.

 

After a great start in their league, U12 Boys faced a tough examination away against AC Finchley East in the Junior League Cup.

 

The boys needed to start fast but, instead started slowly and failed several times to clear a cross; this eventually fell to an attacker who volleyed into the top corner. The Wood rallied well and could have equalised late in the half, Montgomery feeding a lovely ball into the hard working Manning but, his smart shot was parried to safety by the keeper. Despite an excellent performance from Ifeacho at the back, the team were unable to prevent the opposition from further long shots, two of which found the net and when no one was able to get on another excellent cross from Montgomery late in the match, the writing was on the wall. MoM went to Song for a very lively wing display, showing huge potential for the future.

 

In a late twist, coach Makamian was sent to the stands after very politely querying one or two of the ref's decisions. Given there were no stands, he grabbed his bag of balls and walked confusedly around the local vicinity for a while before finding a small hillock to sit down on and reflect that you're never too old to learn!

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U10 Girls were first out the blocks today and put in a sparkling performance at home against the fearsome sounding Garston Ladies Tigers.

 

The two teams were very evenly matched with much exciting goal mouth action at both ends but, with no one quite able to find the net. Emily, in the process of becoming a specialist keeper enjoyed another outstanding performance between the sticks, and with PoM Theaya also excelling in defence, together repelled the opposition's raids. In midfield, Lucy and Chloe worked tirelessly breaking up attack after attack while still having plenty left to launch our own moves up field.

 

Late in the match, a superb Wood play saw the impressive Lois and Kiella link up wonderfully and bear down on the Garston goal, only to see a superb last ditch clearance catch the wind and sail all the way into our goal! That's how it goes sometimes, but, our girls got straight back on with it and all the parents agreed it was a fine performance and a great advert for girls' football.

 

After a quick trip to make-up, coach Sarah was interviewed by Alan Carr after the match and asked for her thoughts on the team's efforts today. She replied, "Many of our girls have only been playing the game for a short while, but, their energy, team spirit & togetherness is already taking them very far. The future is so bright for these young footballers." You just can't argue with that.

 

After their heroics last match, our U18s took on a very good, academy style Watford Ladies side away today. As feared, the first half saw the concession of quite a few goals - nine in total - with the rapid opposition strikers in deadly form.

However, this squad has backbone and after being challenged by our management team to react positively second half, they went out and did just that, improving immeasurably in the process.

After wriggling around like a snake, Shaw was bundled over in the opposition box and Branigan stepped up to cooly dispatch the resulting penalty kick for her first of the season. In midfield, Trainis and Adesanya impressed hugely on their Wood debuts while PoM went to Hyman after she again performed to the highest levels, both in goal and on the pitch.

 

Late goals saw the team finish the second half just 3-1 down, this against a very good side who were likely looking to better their first half goal scoring feats. However, football's a funny ol' game and after transforming their fortunes, the Wood go into the next match full of confidence.