WELCOME

In late August, 16 senior boys are heading Stateside for a fortnight's tour of Massachusetts & New York.
Whilst there, they will not only face the best high school & college soccer teams, but also live the "American Dream".
Join us on our adventure. . .

Friday, 25 July 2014

HGS USA v. Lyminge - 22/07/14

Having started fitness work in late January & then ball work since Easter, Thursday saw the squad's first real opportunity to see all their hard work start to pay off.

Our opposition were Lyminge FC, a strong local Sunday morning team who have a rich recent history of success in their respective competitions. They also were starting their pre-season preparations, so they were looking forward to getting back together as a squad & seeing at what stage they are at.




Arriving at the ground, our boys were shocked to see that it had a (good) layer of grass, with the lines & markings being produced not with paint but with a simple mowed strip. Firstly it was a nice reminder for them that our opposition are from a small country village, but more importantly it was a massive wake up call & test for our boys who may have been slightly privileged up until now with the playing surfaces they have played on in their footballing past. They were reminded that "good players can play on anything. . ."

As it was a first game for both sides, it was agreed that the game would be split in to 3 periods of 35 minutes, giving both team's coaches plenty of opportunity to have some time with their squads to change ideas, players or simply allow the players time to recover & rehydrate, as despite the 7pm kick off, the temperatures were still in the high 20s (another nice reminder of the challenges our boys will be facing in 3 weeks, as they will be hoping for the temperatures to be in the high 20s whilst they are playing, compared to the mid to high 30s!!).

A steady start from both sides saw little in the form of clear cut chances. Realistically, both teams were simply getting used to the (very) long, sticky grass as many passes were short or cut out or players were getting the ball stuck under their feet & lost possession easily.



Sam Ansell had a tough job, playing the target man role up on his own against 2 taller & older defenders. however Sam didn't let this stop his efforts, as he chased down many lost causes & challenged the balls forward with great strength & endeavour. This often opened up opportunities for the 3 behind him (Ethan Maffia, Callum Hearmon & Ryan Taylor) to pick up the ball & look for a route forward. Many times in the opening 25 minutes we managed to get to the edge of their box, but maybe a combination of the sticky surface & taking too many touches, cost us as we lost the ball without testing their keeper. We learnt from this however with 10 minutes of the opening period to go when Hearmon & Maffia interchanged passes allowing Ethan a ran at goal, all be it from a rather tight angle. A lovely finish from Ethan saw the HGS USA team go in to the first break 1-0 up.

As was the plan before the game, a rotation of players happened at the break, allowing Coaches Walton, Stevenson & Chamberlain the opportunity to see different players & players playing in different positions & roles. What they hadn't bargained for was the need for all 3 of them to play some part in the game. Walton was the first to make his mark from the bench, coming on to allow Josh Donald a period of recovery from his midfield role. Having done very little for the first 10 minutes of being on, Walton then (from somewhere even he doesn't know) unleashed a left footed volley from all of 30 yards. The strike (maybe lucky) was one that as soon as it left his boot everyone knew it was a goal. Only made better by the keeper diving full length & still being unable to stop it.

From this point onwards, you could see our boys grow in confidence, now playing the ball a lot more intently along the floor, keeping possession but also looking threatening at the right times. Something that was a pleasure to see, as it has been a major part of our sessions so far.

2 more goals before the 2nd break (another unbelievable strike from Walton (literally no one could believe it!!) & a great curling finish from Ryan Taylor) meant that going into the 3rd period, we had a 4-0 lead & the opportunity for some more rotations & further changes of play. The aim of the last period was to keep the clean sheet & simply enjoy the game, whilst also making sure that everyone gets sufficient amount of time off the field to get rehydrated. A slight positional change saw Jake Hobbs pushed further forward into a right midfield role with immediate "impact" as he was taken out in the box by their defender. Brushing himself, he stepped up & slotted the penalty home. I say slotted. It was a poor penalty that the goalkeeper did his best to let go underneath him. In the centre of the goal. Trickling towards him. This would be the end of the scoring, with the final 10 minutes played out in a casual, relaxed manner, with both teams now struggling because of the heat.

A 5-0 victory against a solid outfit is a great start to our pre tour game schedule, but with games coming thick & fast before we leave on August 15th, our boys need to make sure they are carefully & mindful of their activities & adventures so as not to go too hard too soon. Our next game will be this Sunday against a representative XI of players of former tours. As this is the 25th anniversary tour, we had many boys from which to select, meaning that the opposition will be of a very good standard.

SQUAD - Roche, Hobbs, James, Davison, Brazier, Donald, Nelhams, Maffia, Hearmon, Taylor, Ansell, Walton, Stevenson, Chamberlain.

Man of the Match - Callum Hearmon


Scorers - Walton (2), Hobbs, Maffia, Taylor




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