MYS BLACKS 3 HUNTERFIELD 2
The black stripes bounced back from the drubbing at Spartans to record a well-deserved win with some more great football. The victory was remarkable in some ways as we were without Lloyd (at Hibs) and had Connor and David injured. Cammy Brown came out of goal for the first time in months, with Ross from blue stripes guesting between the sticks despite feeling unwell.
Like last Thursday against Tranent, we had only one sub and it was hard work for all the boys. Also like last week, we started strongly and Jack crashed a shot off the top of the bar. We took the lead when Seth turned his man on the left and laid a perfect ball to Scott, who stroked the ball calmly into the corner with his left foot.
Jack almost made it two when he charged through the middle, but took one touch too many and pulled the ball wide. We were dominating the game but after some head tennis in the midfield, a Hunterfield player smashed in an unstoppable shot which cannoned in off the underside of the bar.
We went ahead after a lovely move on the right. It ended with Callum swinging in a superb cross which Seth flicked into the far corner with his head. The visiting keeper saved well from Scott and Callum and Brandon also went close before we lost our traditional goal just before half-time. After a scramble from a corner, Cammy Brown raised both hands and blocked the ball at close range. It was a clear penalty and though Ross came close to saving it, the ball sneaked home to make it 2-2.
Seth had a chance to make it 3-2 straight after the break after another impressive move, but coudn't quite get his head to the ball at the back post. Callum and Jack had shots well saved and Jack headed onto the bar - but as Hunterfield came back into the game more, Cammy and Jason worked fantastic shifts to keep them at bay.
We had lost our fluency but took the lead when a Hunterfield defender raised his hand to deflect a cross by Seth away from Scott at the back post. Not everyone saw it clearly but in my mind, his hand was away from his body and he had denied Scott a clear goalscoring chance by deflecting the ball away.
Seth, who has never missed a penalty in a game, kept up his 100 per cent record and slotted the ball right into the corner to cap a fantastic man of the match performance. He almost completed a hat-trick when he hit a left-foot shot just wide after a good pass by Scott.
Although Seth won man of the match, all the boys deserve huge credit for another brilliant performance.
Squad: Ross, Cammy, Jason, Brandon, Jack, Seth, Scott, Callum
Scorers: Scott, Seth 2 (1 pen)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A LESSON IN FOOTBALL, 13-9-2009
SPARTANS 6 MYS BLACKS 1
This was a very disappointing result, but a few days afterwards, I feel a bit less disheartened and I hope that everyone - players, coaches and parents - can all take something positive from the game.
Spartans is a huge club with a great pedigree and excellent facilities. The club can attract the best players because of its name and its marvellous set-up. In some respects, the fact that we have competed with them in the last few meetings is amazing.
On this occasion, we really were taught a lesson as the Spartand boys played fabulous pass-and-move football. Having said that, we were very slow to the ball and gave them far too much space to play in - and we failed to get the ball down and pass it around as we know we can.
Spartans took an early lead when we were sloppy at the back and allowed a striker space in the inside-left area. He hit a cross-shot which fell nicely for a player running in at the back post to nudge it home.
By half-time, we were 3-0 down. Goals 2 and 3 were both rebounds after Cammy Brown saves. In some ways, we were a little unlucky at how the ball fell, but 3-0 was a fair reflection of the home team's dominance and Cammy made several good saves to keep the score down. Towards the end of the half, Lloyd and Scott had shots on target as we started to claw our way back.
We needed to pull a goal back straight after the break, but went 4-0 down when a superb left-foot shot left Cammy with no chance.
Finally we started to play and Jack set up Scott to finish nicely to pull it back to 4-1. Immediately, Seth headed a clearance back into the Spartans box and it fell for Scott right in the centre of goal but he mis-hit his shot and the keeper saved.
David and Jason were coming under fierce pressure at the back as Spartans broke swiftly on the superb 3G astro surface. The fifth goal may have been close to offside but like the first half, Spartans had the bulk of the chances and deserved more goals.
Seth and Lloyd hooked shots just over as Youngstars tried to limit the damage but it was Spartans who scored the final goal as a well-placed shot evaded Cammy's dive.
This was a real shame after the excellent performance against Tranent but like I say, hopefully the boys will take on board the skilful movement of the Spartans' players - and try to copy it!
Squad: Cammy, Jason, David, Seth, Jack, Lloyd, Scott, Brandon.
Scorer: Scott
This was a very disappointing result, but a few days afterwards, I feel a bit less disheartened and I hope that everyone - players, coaches and parents - can all take something positive from the game.
Spartans is a huge club with a great pedigree and excellent facilities. The club can attract the best players because of its name and its marvellous set-up. In some respects, the fact that we have competed with them in the last few meetings is amazing.
On this occasion, we really were taught a lesson as the Spartand boys played fabulous pass-and-move football. Having said that, we were very slow to the ball and gave them far too much space to play in - and we failed to get the ball down and pass it around as we know we can.
Spartans took an early lead when we were sloppy at the back and allowed a striker space in the inside-left area. He hit a cross-shot which fell nicely for a player running in at the back post to nudge it home.
By half-time, we were 3-0 down. Goals 2 and 3 were both rebounds after Cammy Brown saves. In some ways, we were a little unlucky at how the ball fell, but 3-0 was a fair reflection of the home team's dominance and Cammy made several good saves to keep the score down. Towards the end of the half, Lloyd and Scott had shots on target as we started to claw our way back.
We needed to pull a goal back straight after the break, but went 4-0 down when a superb left-foot shot left Cammy with no chance.
Finally we started to play and Jack set up Scott to finish nicely to pull it back to 4-1. Immediately, Seth headed a clearance back into the Spartans box and it fell for Scott right in the centre of goal but he mis-hit his shot and the keeper saved.
David and Jason were coming under fierce pressure at the back as Spartans broke swiftly on the superb 3G astro surface. The fifth goal may have been close to offside but like the first half, Spartans had the bulk of the chances and deserved more goals.
Seth and Lloyd hooked shots just over as Youngstars tried to limit the damage but it was Spartans who scored the final goal as a well-placed shot evaded Cammy's dive.
This was a real shame after the excellent performance against Tranent but like I say, hopefully the boys will take on board the skilful movement of the Spartans' players - and try to copy it!
Squad: Cammy, Jason, David, Seth, Jack, Lloyd, Scott, Brandon.
Scorer: Scott
Thursday, September 10, 2009
AN UNBELIEVABLE DEFEAT, 10-9-2009
MYS BLACKS 1 TRANENT COLTS 2
Youngstars took the lead after 15 seconds and played superbly for most of the game but were somehow squeezed out by a Tranent team who seem to have a jinx over us.
With Lloyd missing his first game in four years, Jack played in centre midfield and had a magnificent game. Connor was still out injured but Jason and David played superbly and distributed the ball extremely well from the back.
We took the lead in the blink of an eye; after a neat piece of inter-passing including Seth, Callum and Jack, Scott ran through to score a lovely goal to put us ahead.
We could have had a bucketful by half-time, but Jack had a goal disallowed for pushing, Callum hit the outside of the post and the Windsor keeper made some fine saves. As often happens, we were left to regret our failure to score again as Tranent created their first chances right at the end of the first half. Cammy made a great close-range save but was beaten after misjudging a high ball in the low sun.
Tranent took the lead right at the start of the second-half when poor marking allowed a striker to chest the ball in at the near-post from a corner. We lost our way for a wee while but dug in well and created lots more chances. Scott couldn't quite keep the ball down, Jack had a powerful shot blocked superbly by the keeper and Callum hit the outside of the post again. The keeper saved well again from Scott and Seth and then, right at the death, Jason lashed a shot against the angle of post and bar. It just was not our day, but without two of our strong players missing, this was a really exceptional performance.
Squad: Cammy Brown, David, Jason, Seth, Jack, Callum, Scott, Brandon, Cammy Sharp.
Scorer: Scott
Youngstars took the lead after 15 seconds and played superbly for most of the game but were somehow squeezed out by a Tranent team who seem to have a jinx over us.
With Lloyd missing his first game in four years, Jack played in centre midfield and had a magnificent game. Connor was still out injured but Jason and David played superbly and distributed the ball extremely well from the back.
We took the lead in the blink of an eye; after a neat piece of inter-passing including Seth, Callum and Jack, Scott ran through to score a lovely goal to put us ahead.
We could have had a bucketful by half-time, but Jack had a goal disallowed for pushing, Callum hit the outside of the post and the Windsor keeper made some fine saves. As often happens, we were left to regret our failure to score again as Tranent created their first chances right at the end of the first half. Cammy made a great close-range save but was beaten after misjudging a high ball in the low sun.
Tranent took the lead right at the start of the second-half when poor marking allowed a striker to chest the ball in at the near-post from a corner. We lost our way for a wee while but dug in well and created lots more chances. Scott couldn't quite keep the ball down, Jack had a powerful shot blocked superbly by the keeper and Callum hit the outside of the post again. The keeper saved well again from Scott and Seth and then, right at the death, Jason lashed a shot against the angle of post and bar. It just was not our day, but without two of our strong players missing, this was a really exceptional performance.
Squad: Cammy Brown, David, Jason, Seth, Jack, Callum, Scott, Brandon, Cammy Sharp.
Scorer: Scott
STRUGGLE AT 11-A-SIDE 8-9-2009
MUSSELBURGH WINDSOR COLTS 3 MYS 2
After two impressive performances at the end of last season, Youngstars struggled to adjust to the bigger pitch and were fairly well-beaten by a Windsor team who adapted better to the windy conditions and long grass.
The game was fairly even for the first 15 minutes or so but Windsor took a grip on the game in the second part of the first half-hour period. First, some indifferent tackling by Youngstars allowed a Windsor player to nick the ball back from the byline for a team-mate to poke home. Not long afterwards, a Windsor striker ran onto a through ball and slipped the ball home to make it 2-0 at half-time.
Youngstars had been mainly limited to efforts from the edge of the box, but at the beginning of the second-half, some nice football saw a through ball from Jack find Scott, who hit the ball high into the net.
We really needed to push for the equaliser but Windsor seized back the initiative and had the better of the play. However, Youngstars defended better in the second half with Ross doing well at right-back and David, Jack and Jason putting in some strong tackles and covering well (Connor was injured after breaking his hand).
We were a bit unlucky to go 3-1 down when a corner was cleared only for the second cross to spin off the outside of the Windsor player's foot and deceive Cammy in goal.
We had a good spell late on, with the Windsor keeper saving well from Lloyd and Scott missing a good chance. Lloyd was squeezed out in a tight position when he should have crossed after a good run before Cammy kept us in it with a brilliant save from a volley.
The best came last as Callum smashed a superb shot high into the top corner to make it 3-2, but it was too little, too late.
Squad: Cammy Brown, Cammy Sharp, David, Jack, Jason, Blair Currie, Lloyd, Seth, Callum, Scott, Euan, Brandon, Ross, Matthew.
Scorers: Scott, Callum.
After two impressive performances at the end of last season, Youngstars struggled to adjust to the bigger pitch and were fairly well-beaten by a Windsor team who adapted better to the windy conditions and long grass.
The game was fairly even for the first 15 minutes or so but Windsor took a grip on the game in the second part of the first half-hour period. First, some indifferent tackling by Youngstars allowed a Windsor player to nick the ball back from the byline for a team-mate to poke home. Not long afterwards, a Windsor striker ran onto a through ball and slipped the ball home to make it 2-0 at half-time.
Youngstars had been mainly limited to efforts from the edge of the box, but at the beginning of the second-half, some nice football saw a through ball from Jack find Scott, who hit the ball high into the net.
We really needed to push for the equaliser but Windsor seized back the initiative and had the better of the play. However, Youngstars defended better in the second half with Ross doing well at right-back and David, Jack and Jason putting in some strong tackles and covering well (Connor was injured after breaking his hand).
We were a bit unlucky to go 3-1 down when a corner was cleared only for the second cross to spin off the outside of the Windsor player's foot and deceive Cammy in goal.
We had a good spell late on, with the Windsor keeper saving well from Lloyd and Scott missing a good chance. Lloyd was squeezed out in a tight position when he should have crossed after a good run before Cammy kept us in it with a brilliant save from a volley.
The best came last as Callum smashed a superb shot high into the top corner to make it 3-2, but it was too little, too late.
Squad: Cammy Brown, Cammy Sharp, David, Jack, Jason, Blair Currie, Lloyd, Seth, Callum, Scott, Euan, Brandon, Ross, Matthew.
Scorers: Scott, Callum.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
BLACK STRIPES PIPPED BY PENALTY
MYS FESTIVAL OF FOOTBALL - 22 AUGUST 2009
MYS BLACKS 1 EDINBURGH CITY 0
MYS BLACKS 1 SPARTANS 0
MYS BLACKS 0 TRANENT COLTS 1
MYS BLACKS 2 MYS BLUES 1
After a poor start the week before at the Windsor tournament, the black stripes played some brilliant football and came very close to winning their own club's first-ever festival of football.
Against strong opposition, they tackled powerfully, showed superb commitment and played some terrific passing football. In the first three games, they carved out maybe 15 good chances in all and in truth, should have won the first game by four or five goals. A combination of poor finishing and superb goalkeeping from Edinburgh City's exceptional keeper kept the score to 1-0.
The second game followed a similar pattern and we deserved our first-ever victory over Spartans. (I know Scott and Lloyd scored the goals in the first two games, but can't for the life of me remember which was which!) Thanks to Spartans for helping us out by attending at short notice after the Windsor let us down badly by failing to raise a squad.
Tranent Colts had won 1-0 with a last-minute goal against Spartans then crushed Edinburgh City 5-1, so we played them needing a win to top our group. Again, we had the best of the game but the Tranent keeper made two or three fine saves and we missed one other great chance. We lost the game when we failed to clear a corner and a goalbound header was pushed out by Connor's hands! I was glad to see Tranent score from the kick as it wouldn't have felt right for them to have missed. We could still have come back but it wasn't to be.
The blue stripes finished second in their group (after beating Dunbar, drawing with Longniddry and losing to Aberlady), so we played off aginst them. Jason hit the post from long-range but it was 0-0 at the ten-minute half-time break., Blair Millar scrambled a goal to put the blues 1-0 up but Lloyd nipped in to score after a great through-ball by Connor and then Scott poked home the winner from close range.
All in all, we played more consistent and better football (over a total of 80 minutes) than we perhaps ever have done before. Credit to all theboys for wonderful effort and superb play. In the final, Tranent Colts comfortably beat Aberlady 4-1.
Squad: Cammy, Connor, Jason, David, Jack, Lloyd, Seth, Callum, Scott, Brandon.
Scorers: Lloyd 2, Scott 2
MYS BLACKS 1 EDINBURGH CITY 0
MYS BLACKS 1 SPARTANS 0
MYS BLACKS 0 TRANENT COLTS 1
MYS BLACKS 2 MYS BLUES 1
After a poor start the week before at the Windsor tournament, the black stripes played some brilliant football and came very close to winning their own club's first-ever festival of football.
Against strong opposition, they tackled powerfully, showed superb commitment and played some terrific passing football. In the first three games, they carved out maybe 15 good chances in all and in truth, should have won the first game by four or five goals. A combination of poor finishing and superb goalkeeping from Edinburgh City's exceptional keeper kept the score to 1-0.
The second game followed a similar pattern and we deserved our first-ever victory over Spartans. (I know Scott and Lloyd scored the goals in the first two games, but can't for the life of me remember which was which!) Thanks to Spartans for helping us out by attending at short notice after the Windsor let us down badly by failing to raise a squad.
Tranent Colts had won 1-0 with a last-minute goal against Spartans then crushed Edinburgh City 5-1, so we played them needing a win to top our group. Again, we had the best of the game but the Tranent keeper made two or three fine saves and we missed one other great chance. We lost the game when we failed to clear a corner and a goalbound header was pushed out by Connor's hands! I was glad to see Tranent score from the kick as it wouldn't have felt right for them to have missed. We could still have come back but it wasn't to be.
The blue stripes finished second in their group (after beating Dunbar, drawing with Longniddry and losing to Aberlady), so we played off aginst them. Jason hit the post from long-range but it was 0-0 at the ten-minute half-time break., Blair Millar scrambled a goal to put the blues 1-0 up but Lloyd nipped in to score after a great through-ball by Connor and then Scott poked home the winner from close range.
All in all, we played more consistent and better football (over a total of 80 minutes) than we perhaps ever have done before. Credit to all theboys for wonderful effort and superb play. In the final, Tranent Colts comfortably beat Aberlady 4-1.
Squad: Cammy, Connor, Jason, David, Jack, Lloyd, Seth, Callum, Scott, Brandon.
Scorers: Lloyd 2, Scott 2
TIGHT PITCH, FLATTERING RESULT, 30-8-09
MYS BLACKS 9 GULLANE 1
A difficult and frustrating game ended with a scoreline that totally flattered Youngstars, who scored five goals in the last ten minutes.
A very tight pitch made it hard to open up the game in the way we did so successfully at our tournament a week earlier. There were also minor teething troubles with new rules, including offside, the passback rule and the retreating line. This is a line roughly halfway between the edge of the penalty box and the halfway line – and when the goalie has the ball on the floor or in his hands, the attackers must retreat outside the line. When a defender touches the ball – or it comes to a stop – the attacking team can move in.
Youngstars created few clear chances in the first 15-20 minutes. Seth didn’t get enough power on a left-foot shot from a wide position and the keeper saved comfortably, then he got a hand on a shot from Lloyd to touch it onto a post. The keeper saved well again when Seth hit a low shot towards the corner after a nice move.
North Berwick had one or two chances but we took the lead after about 20 minutes when Callum rifled the ball across goal and Jack hammered it in at the back post. Callum flicked the ball over the keeper and in during a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-0, then Brandon smashed in a close-range shot from a narrow angle after another melee. We started the second half slowly and North Berwick came back into the game when a striker nicked the ball past Cammy to make it 3-1.
Another goal then and we might have wobbled, but Lloyd scored after another scrappy approach to give us breathing-space. Finally, we started to open up the game and play football. It had been hard for Connor, David and Jason to move the ball forward in such a tight area but we began to find space and Lloyd hammered in a fifth after good work by Brandon and Seth set up Scott neatly for No 6. Another unselfish pass from Seth set up Lloyd to make it 7-1 before two excellent final goals.
David hit a long-range shot low into the corner and then Seth played a one-two from a corner with Lloyd and smacked an unstoppable shot high into the top corner. 9-1 flattered us, but hopefully with a bit more space to work in, we will be able to play more of the football we showed at the end of the game.
Squad: Cammy, Connor, Jason, David, Jack, Lloyd, Seth, Callum, Scott, Brandon.
Scorers: Jack, Callum, Brandon, Lloyd 3, Scott, David, Seth
A difficult and frustrating game ended with a scoreline that totally flattered Youngstars, who scored five goals in the last ten minutes.
A very tight pitch made it hard to open up the game in the way we did so successfully at our tournament a week earlier. There were also minor teething troubles with new rules, including offside, the passback rule and the retreating line. This is a line roughly halfway between the edge of the penalty box and the halfway line – and when the goalie has the ball on the floor or in his hands, the attackers must retreat outside the line. When a defender touches the ball – or it comes to a stop – the attacking team can move in.
Youngstars created few clear chances in the first 15-20 minutes. Seth didn’t get enough power on a left-foot shot from a wide position and the keeper saved comfortably, then he got a hand on a shot from Lloyd to touch it onto a post. The keeper saved well again when Seth hit a low shot towards the corner after a nice move.
North Berwick had one or two chances but we took the lead after about 20 minutes when Callum rifled the ball across goal and Jack hammered it in at the back post. Callum flicked the ball over the keeper and in during a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-0, then Brandon smashed in a close-range shot from a narrow angle after another melee. We started the second half slowly and North Berwick came back into the game when a striker nicked the ball past Cammy to make it 3-1.
Another goal then and we might have wobbled, but Lloyd scored after another scrappy approach to give us breathing-space. Finally, we started to open up the game and play football. It had been hard for Connor, David and Jason to move the ball forward in such a tight area but we began to find space and Lloyd hammered in a fifth after good work by Brandon and Seth set up Scott neatly for No 6. Another unselfish pass from Seth set up Lloyd to make it 7-1 before two excellent final goals.
David hit a long-range shot low into the corner and then Seth played a one-two from a corner with Lloyd and smacked an unstoppable shot high into the top corner. 9-1 flattered us, but hopefully with a bit more space to work in, we will be able to play more of the football we showed at the end of the game.
Squad: Cammy, Connor, Jason, David, Jack, Lloyd, Seth, Callum, Scott, Brandon.
Scorers: Jack, Callum, Brandon, Lloyd 3, Scott, David, Seth
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