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14 October 2007

Bedmond v APYFC Youth

Bedmond Ajax U15 1 - 4 Alexandra Park U15 Youth
Sunday Oct 14
Starting team - Max, Gus, Will, Larry, Antoine, Louis, Taylor, Patrick, Luke, Eoin, Josh. Subs - Jesse, James, Dylan.
Scorers - Jesse 2, Patrick 2
Manager - Senor Ronaldo Benitezole.
 
To Bedmond on a sunny October day - nice pitch, railings to lean on, hospitable clubhouse and they’re bottom.
Should’ve been a walk-over?
Well, it certainly wasn’t. Bedmond didn’t play like a bottom team and AP didn’t really function as a top-of the-table unit. Though the better team won, the score was a little flattering and had Bedmond taken their chances it could have been different.
This game should remind the boys that the Red Division offers few easy matches and that they will have to work hard to impose themselves on the league as they did last year.
AP had the better of the opening 20 minutes or so, with Josh going close after a through ball from Patrick.
Taylor was also put through on goal, forcing a good save from the keeper and Patrick should have been allowed to play the advantage after running to the penalty area. The ref, though, blew for an AP free-kick.
Bedmond had some bright moments, working their way to goal with neat football. Larry disrupted one move with a great tackle. He was playing at the back with Will early on as Snr Benitezole rotated his squad.
No-one, however, intervened to stop a good cross and headed goal by Bedmond shortly after the half hour. It should not have been allowed to happen.
Happily, though, AP play well when they’re behind and within six minutes they had equalised when a lovely touch from Josh sent Jesse flying towards goal - he was nicknamed ‘jet heels’ by one of the opposition Dads. He beat a defender and then reminded us he does have a left foot by knocking it past the keeper.
Moments from half time a Bedmond free kick hit the AP bar. It summed up a half in which AP were rather disjointed and a little sleepy and the opposition were allowed too many chances.
Within six minutes of the second half, though, it was 2 - 1 after Jesse was tripped just outside the area. Patrick hit the free kick tamely against the wall but then lashed in the rebound.
There followed a passage of play in which Bedmond missed narrowly more than once and Max pulled off two excellent saves, one tipping the ball round the post and the other a reflex parry from close range. Will was working overtime to break up their neat passing. At the other end, Patrick and Jesse carved open the defence but failed to capitalise.
Another AP free kick, though, was scrambled in by Jesse, to make it 3 - 1.
With about eight minutes to go Jesse was clattered by the keeper and the ref correctly awarded a penalty - at the same end as he won one in the corresponding game last year.
After someone we assumed was the keeper’s mum had persuaded him not to leave the game, he trooped back to goal only for Patrick to slam the penalty hard and low straight down the middle. 4 -1.
Patrick should have scored after a great, tricky run by Taylor and James narrowly missed, but there were no more goals and Bedmond heads had dropped.
All in all, a game of isolated moments of inspiration and goals from set pieces, rather than the flowing, exciting football we’ve seen for much of this year. There were too many speculative long balls at times when the team needed to build from the back.
However, it’s an old wisdom in football that champions win even when they are not on top form.
And there were plus points. Jesse’s pace terrifies defenders, Patrick is creating and scoring and Will put in another towering performance. Larry and Luke battled and Louis looks the part in the holding role.
They, and all the other players, will need to be fit and on top form when we meet this year’s challengers, Abbots, whose goals-per-game ratio is even better so far than AP’s.
 
23 September 2007

APYFC Youth v Hemel Aces (League)

Sept 23 - Alexandra Park Youth FC 6 - Hemel Aces 1. By John Steele
This is a match report and a look at the league season so far (I missed the cup match).
A write-up on the Hemel Aces web site in the days after the match said they had no complaints about losing because Alexandra Park “are a good side with some good players and they’ll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.”
Which is spot on. Nine points out of nine, fifteen goals scored and five conceded and Jesse and Patrick in the top five scorers in the top division of the Watford Friendly under-15 league - the statistics tell the story.
Hemel’s view is they were caught holding the ball too much in midfield and were hit several times. But the truth is they simply could not cope with the swift-passing power game which the APY boys turned on so often last season.
The team which started was Max, Gus, Larry, Dylan, Chris, Louis, Luke, Patrick, James and Jesse and Taylor. Will, Josh and David were subs. (Hope I didn’t miss anyone, and I may have got James and Josh mixed up.)
It was roughly even for ten minutes, with a couple of APY shots from Louis and Patrick going close over the bar and Hemel pushing forward. Then a sharp move forward took the ball to Jesse, who shot ahead of the defender and finished well. 1 - 0.They clearly found Jesse a handful throughout.
On about 17 minutes a terrific move involving Chris, Josh and Jesse found Patrick on the edge of the area. He punished the Aces’ failure to pick him up - which their coach noted in his match report. 2 - 0
Aces got one back on 24 minutes when their striker put it in the net despite being flagged offside by Rob. The referee gave the goal, which was not the only strange decision he made. 2 - 1.
Aces tried gamely to get the ball to their speedy strikers - though Will, as usual, was imperious - but most of the flow came from APY.
The referee - who has recently qualified and officiated in what looked like soft leather shoes - blew for half time on 34 minutes and seem impervious to arguments.
Eight minutes into the second half there was a delightful move in which Patrick lobbed the ball to Jesse and he lobbed the keeper. 3 - 1.
Minutes later, harassment of the defenders paid off when Jesse pounced on a loose ball and made it 4 -1.
Patrick and Jesse had a spell off and then back on. Patrick made it 5 - 1 with an excellent shot from the edge of the area.
In the depths of injury time, which appeared to run well over 40 minutes, Chris scored probably the goal of the season so far - a real pile-driver from outside the area.
All in all, a terrific performance. If Jesse and Patrick were the most obvious scourges of Hemel, it should also be noted that Larry was everywhere in midfield, ably supported by Luke, and Will bossed the defence (and gave us earache from the sidelines before he went on).
A special mention for Jesse, who intervened quickly to prevent Patrick clobbering one of the opposition, and to Patrick for - I'm told - apologising to the parents at the end.
It followed a cracking match on Sept 16, against the newly-promoted Hadley Wood, who were a real handful and - their coach said - want to win the league. Doing this from memory, no notes.)
Their speed up front got them three goals and they were well drilled.
But APY have the fire-power to out-score teams like that. Jesse got two, the last a real cracker to make it 4 -3, Larry volleyed from a Patrick free kick and Dylan showed Thierry Henry-like composure to control and turn in the six-yard box to put his first, and hopefully not last, goal of the season.
The first league game was against the other new boys, Whetstone, on Sept 12. Jesse got three, Patrick and Larry one each in a 5 - 1 win.
Those of us who watched it recall that it could have been ten if their keeper had not pulled off some good saves. Some of the football was as good as Arsenal.
Oh, and before that there was a brilliantly-coached pre-season tournament win in Edmonton.
All the lads are playing with smiles on their faces and it shows in the football. Max is a strong keeper who stays awake for the occasional threat which gets through, and will get his spells out field.
Will, Gus, Dylan and Chris and working so well as a unit. Louis can join them or break things up in midfield. All of them can get forward, overlap or score. Larry patrols midfield with boundless energy, and will score too, Luke tackles like a tiger and James and Josh understand the importance of width - as do Eoin and Taylor, who are playing their parts in keeping the ball moving. David shows some great touches and scored a terrific tournament goal. And Patrick and Jesse are going to make and score a lot of goals this year. We hope Antoine will be back full fit soon.
Under the great Sir Ron Inkersole the team have matured: they are disciplined, they control the ball better than some professionals and they work hard and bravely.
This season really is an exciting prospect - and it’s a lot cheaper than the Emirates. Bring on Harvesters.
7 October 2007

Edmonton Rangers v APYFC Youth

October 07 - Watford Friendly League Red Division
 
Edmonton Rangers 5 - 5 Alexandra Park Youth
At Tile Kiln Lane.
 
Team - Max, Gus, Dylan, Larry, Antoine, Josh, Patrick, Luke, Eoin, Chris, Jesse. James and Will started as subs.
Manager - Ron Weasley
 
 
Oh My!
If some of the football in the first three games was like Arsenal, this was similar to one of those Manchester United matches against European opposition where they lose the first leg and then go further behind in the second leg before waking up and storming back in thrilling fashion.
The first half was disjointed - with Will and Larry having spells off, which will remind them to get to training. That, and a sleepiness around the pitch, allowed an Edmonton side which has been strengthened since last year to take leads of 3 - 0 and 5 -2.
However, such is the firepower in the AP team that when the comment was made to Edmonton’s experienced coach, Max, that we could'nt get back from 5 - 2 down, he just said: “It’s not over yet.” He was right.
It began apparently brightly for AP with some smooth passing movements but it was obvious that Edmonton had pace -don’t they all in the red division? - and would cause problems.
Two goals went past Max in the first 17 minutes, the first a simple failure to clear and the second a classic example of being caught in possession. No worry, though, we thought; it’s sporting to give the opposition a head start.
Alarms bells began to ring, however, when more sloppy defending and general slowness at the back made it 3 - 0.
AP did create chances, with Chris going close and Jesse’s pace causing difficulties, but trying to hit Jesse with long balls played to the strength of the “Little and Large” defenders in the Edmonton side. On his own up front, he was in a war with the re-enforcements always too far away. There was little of the sweeping passing movement of the Hemel game.
However, a sweet, high-speed flick from Patrick to Jesse and a good finish reminded us what can be done when the ball is on the ground, making it 3 - 1. Jesse might have had a penalty and Gus shot over the bar but it remained 3 -1 at half-time.
In the second half, balance was restored in the team with Will at the back and Larry in the centre of midfield.
Within minutes of the start, James volleyed an excellent pass through to Jesse, whose pace was too much for the big lad, Abu. 3 -2.
However, not long afterwards, a cruel bounce of the ball allowed a striker to get past Will and make it 4 - 2 to Edmonton.
And then there was another speedy break and it was 5 - 2. With about 20 minutes to go, it seemed that all was lost. However, the Edmonton coach was not sure, commenting that AP were “fantastic” last season and wondering if we had lost players.
We hadn’t, of course; they were just being reminded that there will be tough sides this year and if they want to impose their game they have to wake up before the match kicks off.
Such is the spirit in the side that, once they realised they might lose, the fight-back started. And it was stirring stuff, even if it was not good for the hearts of the parents..
A great long-range shot from Patrick dipped over the bar and he didn’t get enough power in another shot after a terrific through ball from Jesse.
But while the increasingly embattled Edmonton defence was watching those two, Luke launched a great pass to the left corner of the six-year box, where James met it perfectly. 5 - 3. It’s great to see James rampaging down the wing again.
Most of the play was now around the Edmonton box, with Will keeping the noise going and Larry smothering Edmonton attempts to break out.
Jesse made it 5 -4 after another penetrating through ball and parity was reached at 5-5 by a smart finish from Patrick.
The stand-in Edmonton keeper kept them in the game with two saves, a key one from Luke, in the dying minutes.
Then, horror of horrors, AP gave away a free-kick just outside their box (didn’t see why.) It fizzed past the post, though.
5 - 5 was probably a fair result, as Edmonton didn’t really deserve to lose, but there’s no doubt that APY were the more likely to score a winner.
In summary, then, the downside was messy and unlucky defending which hopefully won’t be repeated. But this is a team which will never lose easily - it was a great, thrilling come-back .