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