U9Bs wounds self inflicted - Points dropped to Alderley

9 November 2008

For early-November, it was an unseasonably mild morning; however the U9Bs took a long while to warm to a challenging fixture against Alderley Athletic at Lacey Green. On the final whistle it was honours even, with Alderley's goals coming courtesy of a deflected own-goal and a penalty.

Overall, this performance was well short of Albion's best, against a team that was stronger than any previous opposition. On the plus side, the boys responded well to twice being a goal behind and they were unlucky not to snatch a win in the final minutes. The 2-2 result was a fair reflection of the game, rewarding Albion for spirit and endeavour, and Alderley for their organisation and defensive resilience.

Albion showed a lack of commitment and concentration throughout most of the early exchanges and for too long they failed to take the initiative in midfield; content to let Alderley pick-up loose balls and win 50/50 tackles before taking defensive action. Alderley enjoyed early pressure with a shot that was cleared for a corner, and then another strike wide of the right hand post. Dan created the first chance at the other end with a good long ball, which Sol collected and shot narrowly wide.

Half chances at each end followed, with neither side able to gain control of the game. Sam battled well to create an opening on the left, but his through ball to Sol ran long, and the Alderley defence did well to charge down another shot from Sol after a succession of Albion throw-ins and corners.

15 mins: Wilmslow Albion 0 – Alderley Athletic 0

In the second period it was again Alderley that started brighter. Josh Wheeler was forced to make a timely tackle to prevent a shot from close-range, and the resulting corner deflected off defender and keeper into the Albion net for an own goal.

Wilmslow Albion 0 – Alderley Athletic 1

Albion were fortunate not to go further behind immediately after the re-start – a scramble in the Wilmslow box ending with an Alderley shot that narrowly missed the left hand post. This seemed to galvanise Albion. A good period of sustained pressure followed, ending in a neat turn and shot by Sam, who saw his effort saved round the foot of the post by the keeper. A series of four more corners kept the game in the Alderley half and Nathan put in a strong run and strike which brought another good save from the Alderley 'keeper at the expense of another corner. Yet more corners followed, before the pressure finally told and Albion equalised with an excellent header – Dan out-jumping the defence to meet Sam's corner and level with just seconds remaining in the second period.

Wilmslow Albion 1 – Alderley Athletic 1

30 mins: Wilmslow Albion 1 – Alderley Athletic 1

Following words from their respective coaches, both teams started the final period in determined fashion. It was Alderley who drew first blood as a shot on the Albion goal struck a hand in the box – penalty!  The spot-kick was despatched with great confidence and accuracy into the bottom left hand corner.

Wilmslow Albion 1 – Alderley Athletic 2

Having gifted both away goals, Albion could be excused for a little self-pity at this stage. However, they responded well, staging a series of attacks and winning corner after corner as they looked to draw level. Dan – with another header from another corner - went closest, but saw his attempt go 12 inches over the bar.

It was Nathan who finally brought Albion back on terms, drifting in from the right after picking up a pass from Rohan, moving into shooting range and then unleashing a thunderbolt from outside the box that beat the 'keeper top dead centre of the goal.

Wilmslow Albion 2 – Alderley Athletic 2

The fluency that had been strangely missing from Albion's game made a surprise and welcome return in the final five minutes. The midfield and attack suddenly seemed to recognise each other and a series of late chances begged a winning goal. One Albion corner was deflected onto the post and ran back along the goal line; Dan had a long range shot pushed away by the keeper for a corner and Josh Wheeler hit the bar before Finn put the rebound narrowly over.

Despite Albion's committed late search for a winner, the final action of the game was at the other end, as James dived well to his right to push away a goal bound effort and ensure a share of the points.

45 mins: Wilmslow Albion 2 – Alderley Athletic 2

So, the U9Bs drop their first league points in a game that, ultimately, they will be disappointed not to have won. Alderley proved to be the most well organised and combative side that the U9s have faced, and even when Albion finally got their game together they still found it difficult to fashion clear goal scoring chances, despite having the majority of possession. While the team was strangely out-of-sorts for periods of the game, they should be proud to have twice come back from a goal down and to have scored two of the season's best goals.

The tight nature of the game made "highlights" few and far between. Rohan, Sam, Harrison and Josh Mehta all found themselves involved as much in supporting the defence as they have previously enjoyed exploring attacking avenues. Sol, Finn, and Josh Ezair were given far less space and opportunity than they have become accustomed to. Nathan, awarded Man of the Match, proved most effective in breaking up the Alderley defensive wall.

Alderley should be congratulated for their all-round performance and for their resilience in the final period when pressure mounted. They are the first team to have taken points from the U9Bs and Albion need to wake-up to the fact that games against stronger and more determined opposition such as this are going to be very different from the "goal-fests" that they have enjoyed to date.

Man of the match : Nathan Sach

Source: A Wheeler

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