U17 AFC Henley Hawks
Matches
Sat 05 Jan 2019  ·  Under 12 Division 7
U12 WHITEGROVE SAINTS
1
1
AFC Henley
U17 AFC Henley Hawks
J Lea (39')
Honours even with the new kids on the block

Honours even with the new kids on the block

Gilly Lea29 Jan 2019 - 23:56
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The Hawks have a competent start to the second half of the season

Following some changes in the divisions, the Hawks started the second half of the season second in the table and their first fixture was against the Whitegrove Saints - a team that had come down from the division above - and a bit of an unknown quantity.

The Saints started well and had a goal within the first minute; the Hawks felt the play was offside but had a hard learning point in playing to the whistle as no flag went up. After this hiccup, the Hawks regained composure and as the first half progressed were the dominant side in terms of possession, corners and shots. None of this converted to a goal down to a combination of unfortunate line decisions, good shot stopping by the Saints’ keeper and a few wayward shots. Chances were too numerous to mention with Conor Quinn, Lucas Wilson, Jenson Lea and George Acock doing some on point passing and getting into space.

Lucas Wilson had an amazing game with energy, speed and skills that seemed endless. He was the Duracell bunny of the match - well, if the Duracell bunny was awesome at football anyway - and without the pink fur and ears. He was up and down the field at speed - canny in helping defend and dangerous on the break. George Acock and Jenson Lea worked well together and a joint assault on goal amazingly didn’t result in a goal despite being on target. Conor Quinn was the victim of the rookie linesman and was also unlucky with a shot going over the cross bar. Jenson Lea provided some great corners in after the many thwarted Hawks’ shots, but despite all the hard work, the Saints were still leading at half time.

The Hawks were out of the blocks and penetrating the Saints’ defence in the second half, with a series of shots and 3 corners notched up in the first 2 minutes; George Acock was unlucky not to convert a curling ball in from Jenson Lea. The lure of a goal was tantalisingly close and after 39 minutes, Jenson Lea intercepted a goal kick and took a shot on goal past the helpless keeper. Thankfully the ref ignored the linesman’s flag (I kid ye not…) on this occasion and the scores were even at 1-1.

Jenson Lea was at the centre of the action again when Man of the Match Louis Catlin (pictured) played an intelligent ball up to him and he put it in the back of the net. There was a controversial flag and, after discussion, the ref disallowed the goal. Disappointing for the Hawks, but they kept up the pressure and looked set to score some more.

Ben Hemmings was in goal for most of the match and provided a safe pair of hands on the occasions the Saints managed to penetrate the defence - allowing regular keeper Max Messias to play outfield. Max played in centre mid and mid attack until the final quarter where he pulled the gloves back on and put in a couple of solid saves.

The defensive team of Louis Catlin, Michael Dowling and Daniel Flowers worked incredibly well - with very little getting past them. The dream defence have always been great on timely interventions and clearances - and there are a couple of really noticeable improvements in their game as the season develops… The ability to stop, control and clear balls - particularly at height / speed - in a seamless manner is definitely getting more consistent and really flummoxed the Saints. Not only is the control (and speed of it) improving dramatically but the accuracy of the pass / clearance is also improving. So often there is a ‘knee jerk’ reaction to clearing a ball - but they are now being cleared with accuracy to the Hawks’ attack and that speed of control and accuracy of pass can make the split-second difference to a break on goal. The other noticeable improvement is the communication between the defence particularly about going forward. All are very capable at going forward and having a punt on goal - be it on a break or the height / header advantage of Daniel Flowers for corners. The team communicated well to decide who would go forward and who would stay back - mixing it up to keep the opposition guessing. Some really intelligent play.

Vibhu Vadhoolan joined the dream team for the first quarter in his preferred role in defence and then had a go in the centre mid role for the remainder of the match. His positioning was good - moving up to support the forwards and remaining on hand as a shot stopper when the Saints broke too. A credible performance for a first time in that position; good energy and not afraid to get stuck in to tackles.

There was good link up work with throw ins and free kicks - mixing up throws down the line with quick passes to hoof it over a few players for another Hawks’ break. The defence and attack were more joined up than a few games ago where we sometimes seemed to have two separate teams - attack and defence - now the movement is more fluid between each - with the back 3 becoming an important part in generating or creating the breaks and the midfielders coming back to cover when needed. We have been working on this - the mentality that when we have the ball we are attacking as a team - and when we don’t - we’re pressing to get it back. It’s good to see it coming to fruition - still plenty more to do though - we can always improve.

The Hawks played well and can play even better - there were some great glimpses of what can be achieved. Frustratingly, despite great play, possession and well generated chances, the score line on this occasion remained 1-1 at the final whistle.

Match details

Match date

Sat 05 Jan 2019

Kickoff

TBC

Meet time

10:00

Attendance

20

Competition

Under 12 Division 7

League position

1
U12 AFC HENLEY HAWKS
10
U12 WHITEGROVE SAINTS
Team overview
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