Youth football round up

Youth football

U9

Great Bardfield 0

Plantation Panthers 7

The Panthers kept their first clean sheet of the season with a comfortable win over Great Bardfield. Man of the match Rory Nicholas shined with two goals and some great runs through midfield.

Harris Bremner Lambourn took the scoring honours with a hat-trick, with the other goals coming from Harry Ball and Harry Cooke.

Saffron Walden 2

Plantation Pumas 3

GOALS were hard to come by in the early stages of this local derby, with both midfields working hard to deny space and the two goal keepers pulling of some great saves.

The breakthrough finally game after some good wide play from Toby Salmon and a smart finish from Harry Dorrian, almost instantly Saffron Walden scored to draw level. Toby netted Plantations second to give the away team a lead going in to the final third of the match

Once again the home team equalised to make it 2-2 but with just five minutes remaining Tom Keogh blasted home the winner to give Plantation the result that they had fought so hard for.

U10

Plantation Panthers 5

Haverhill Rovers 0

KICKING off against the wind Plantation made an enterprising start to the match with both Ollie Newman and Kristian Rogers going desperately close to scoring. Newman opened his account in the 10th minute. Collecting the ball in his own half he carved through the Rovers defence and neatly slotted home from the edge of the box.

Shortly after, Rogers crashed a shot against the post before grabbing his first on 22 minutes.

Dylan Hider broke strongly down the left and crossed in for Rogers to side foot home from close range. A minute later Newman added his second, dribbling around the goalkeeper and walking the ball into the net to give the Panthers a 3-0 half-time lead.

The second half was just four minutes old when Louis Eady, with his back to goal, turned his marker and chipped over the keeper.

Eady made it 5-0 on 37 minutes as he fired in from close range. Chances for Haverhill were limited thanks to a tough tackling contribution from skipper Josh Boyd in midfield and good defensive support from Daniel Duval and Archie Winter resulting in a good win for Plantation and quiet game for home keeper Jeremy Fletcher.

Manuden 4

Stevenage Colts 1

Manuden maintained their 100 per cent record with an impressive victory. Goals from Samuel Law (3) and Dane Elliott ensured the hosts stayed top of the table with seven victories in seven games.

Spartak 78 2

Thurlow Youth 0

SPARTAK started the New Year with a 2-0 home win against their last opponents from 2010.

They started brightly and after four minutes it was Brad who deftly turned in Hudson’s corner to open the scoring. Lukas hit the post and then he had three more chances is as many minutes as his team continued to pressurise for a second, but the Thurlow defence held firm and there were no further goals in the first half.

In the second half a sparkling move down the left ended with Daniel crossing to Ben and his first time shot just went wide of the mark.

This was followed by another good attack as Hudson found Daniel and he setup Kaine and his shot went wide of the target.

Thurlow’s best chance of the game came next as the ball landed inches from the Spartak goal line and thankfully for the home team, goalie Travis eventually managed to pounce on the loose ball.

Some hard work and resolute tackling by the Spartak team was eventually rewarded as with only a few minutes remaining they were awarded a free kick on the left hand side after a foul on Brad.

He then hauled himself up and hit a super strike to give Spartak a two-goal cushion.

U12

Thaxted Rangers 5

Writtle Minors 0

CONSIDERING Writtle are two leagues lower, Thaxted made hard work of this cup match. After several good saves from the Writtle keeper, Ewan Slade managed to score the first goal when the ball somehow slipped between the keeper and the post. Jack Morris then scored early in the second and Thaxted increased their lead after Tim Jossaume’s initial shot at goal was parried – he managed to score in the ensuing goal mouth scramble.

Slade scored Thaxted’s fourth from the edge of the area and the final goal, and pick of the bunch, was a lovely taken left footed shot from Austen Domin. Thaxted defenders Marcus Jones and Aiden Caley worked well to leave keeper Evan Sunshine with little to do. The result sees Thaxted through to the quarter finals.

Bishop Stortford 0

Manuden Juniors 2

MANUDEN pair Henry Kingston and Lewis McDonald provided the ammunition for a comfortable win for the away side.

After what seemed like a very long winter break due to the bad weather followed by the holidays the boys all arrived with enthusiasm and raring to go.

Despite a difficult first half Manuden eventually found their rhythm and went in front after a good move led to a goal from Kingston. From then on the boys grew in confidence and eventually got a well deserved second goal to cap a great first result for 2011.

U13

Aztecs 1

Saffron Walden 10

WALDEN looked impressive in their first game back after a month off due to the weather and Christmas holidays.

After a fairly even opening the visitors took the lead after a great run down the right hand side by Henry Goddard, his cross enabled Dylan Reams to score at the far post.

This boosted the confidence and Walden doubled their lead when Goddard was put through by Jack Clark – he finished with a crisp shot.

Aztecs played some good football but Walden finished the half on top as Reams scored their third from long range.

In the second half Walden came out flying and Reams completed his hat trick to make it 4-0. It was soon five as Jack Young raced on to a quick throw-in and finished well beating his man and shooting home. Reams added another before Jack Clark fired in powerfully from the edge of the box .

Reams added another three for Walden to cap off a fine team performance. Aztecs scored a late consolation and kept going to the end but it was Walden’s day.

U14

Newmarket Town 1

Saffron Walden Town 1

SEVEN weeks since their last match, Walden kicked off 2011 with a hard fought draw. The first half was keenly contested with neither side gaining significant advantage and few shots were on target.

Josh Charge, deputising in goal for the visitors, gave an assured performance which, together with solid defending from John Griffin and Jed Butler, ensured that half time was reached with the score remaining at nil-nil.

The second half began in much the same vein until 10 minutes into the half when Newmarket broke the deadlock with a goal from a corner on the left.

Walden responded well to the setback and minutes later Charlie Pitt shot just wide of the left post when one-on-one with the keeper.

Soon after, Pitt was once again through on goal. After seeing his initial shot saved, he reacted quickly to win the ball on the rebound and fire home the equaliser into the bottom right corner.

From this point on, Walden began to dominate the play and an increasing number of chances were either well saved or went narrowly wide.

A goal mouth scramble from a free kick in the dying minutes of the match almost saw Walden clinch it, but it wasn’t to be. Overall a strong Walden performance and good preparation for next weeks home match against Fulbourn.

U17

Radwinter Colts FC 4

Cherry Hinton FC 1

AFTER a fine start by Radwinter they found themselves a goal down 15 minutes in, 10 later and a superbly placed finish through a packed box by Luke Thomas moved the score to one each.

With a lot of possession and a few missed chances Radwinter took a well deserved lead in half time thanks to Sam Mitchell.

The second half saw a very dominant display by the hosts and it wasn’t long before Mitchell double his tally. The home side continued to stretch Hinton and the visiting keeper was beaten once more by Will Rolls for a 4-1 final score.