Heathfield & Horam U14s vs Ringmer Rovers

I watched my two teams play yesterday and at both I got soaked to the skin and needed wringing out, both were cracking matches to watch and both didn't quite deliver the result I hoped for, but lets concentrate on HHFC-U14s!

Initially it was great to be back, we've had such a long break, further increased by the league not getting things sorted as quickly as we'd hoped but nonetheless we are back.

It was great to see so many new players finally getting the chance to play in a competitive league game, out of the 16 selected, we had 6 newbies which was lovely to see, and a particular well done do those boys.

The weather was awful, I dont recall many games where the rain has been worse, and this had its part to play eventhough it did for all players on the pitch, and the pitch itself stood up pretty well.

We started off fantastically, and within 3mins Johno opened the scoring, and this came about by him being in the best position for the move, so great to get the first goal on the card. This was soon following by Sam S at 4mins and so we were 2-0 up before we knew it. At that point we seemed to perhaps believe that this was going to be a walk in the park but Ringmer have always been a good team and they just kept plugging away whilst we seemed to think we would be OK.

They pulled a goal back before the half hour mark and squared things up a minute later so we went into the break at 2-2.

For the second half we carried on in the same vein and were trying to take on too much individually instead of passing and moving which had been so successful at the start of the match. There were spells where this did happen and we got very close to re-taking the lead on a number of occasions. They kept plugging away but didn't threaten anywhere near as much as we did, but unfortunately they nicked a winner on the hour. The away coach was convinced we would score again due to the run of play but despite our best efforts we just never got back and unfortunately the game finished 2-3.

Without a doubt we were the better team, and just like Brighton we had more possession, had better spells and opportunities, but the main statistic went against us.

We kept subs rolling, with 17 changes made through the game, and this was done primarily to make sure that the boys didnt suffer too much with the wet and cold, but this I am sure made play a little more difficult as positions and players were constantly changing, however, it was the right thing to do. On a practical note, please do ensure that the boys have a warm layer to wear when the weather is like this.

In all Ringmer just seemed to have a tiny bit more desire and that won through. However, new players bedding in, increased substitutes, a bit more belief and some good luck will certainly pull us through in the coming games an holds us in good stead for a great 21/22 season.

Thanks to Tim for running the line and Jeff for running the game...

Also to parents for helping with the clear down...

We are away next week (09/10) details, to follow. Please ensure that availability is up-to-date on Pitchero.

Thanks again and have a great week!

UTHH...