Shining at North Tyneside
At the recent North Tyneside Tournament the Under 11
s (This seasons under 12
s) had a great tournament. Here's how it went..........
Cleveland Hall 0-0The tournament opened for us with a tough game against top Gateshead side Cleveland Hall, the game being a hard fought midfield battle with few chances being created by either side, other than breakaway opportunities for both where the Cleveland keeper and our keeper, James Straughan, made fine saves ensuring the game ended in stalemate.
Coast Soccer 8-1The tough opener seemed to benefit the lads as they were straight at it from the whistle with the same attitude and commitment showed in the last game. This resulted in early chances and well taken goals from Sam Costello, Karl Ross and Jake Maughan. Coast Soccer continued to battle well but struggled to get close to our neat passing game, impressive defending and clinical finishing. The second half started in more or less the same vain and more goals ensued with the 8-1 final scoreline a fair reflection of the game.
Wallsend Barca 2-1Friday morning didn't get off to the best of starts with James Straughan injuring his shoulder in the warm up meaning team captain Craig Spooner was entrusted with the keepers jersey for the remainder of the tournament.
The game kicked off after a reshuffle of the starting 11, Wallsend packing the midfield area to attempt to stifle our creativeness and passing game, the game started tight with us dominating possession but nothing much created in the way of chances. The first goal inevitably came from a set piece, a free kick swung in by Alex Sibbald, the Wallsend defender met it well but only headed it down to Dan Lowther on the edge of the box who finished from 18 yards.
Unfortunately as the game progressed we couldn't capitalise on chances and extend our lead, then a breakaway down the Wallsend right led to a cross to their left winger who controlled and finished low to the left to square it up at 1-1.
We knew we had to win the game to give us any chance of progressing so a quick change in formation for the last 10 minutes led to a burst down the right and cross from Liam Anderson to Jake Maughan who finished clinically at the near post. 2-1 to Cramlington at the final whistle.
Whitley Bay Blues 7-0Again a tight morning game seemed to benefit for the afternoon fixture as we were straight out of the blocks against a well organised Whitley Bay team with a very strong midfield, five minutes into the game saw us 2-0 to the good after great strong work in midfield from Brogan Heads and Dan Lowther for both goals. The longer the game progressed the stronger we got and more goals followed including strikes for Karl Ross and Joe Shanley. Whitley Bay did attempt the breakthrough with a strong run from midfield and a shot from fully 35 yards which called upon stand in keeper Craig Spooner to pull off a miraculous one handed save, which drew applause from every spectator around the pitch, to tip the ball onto the crossbar and out for a corner . A further two strikes late in the game and stout defending from Alex Sibbald, Joseph Gibson, Shane Grey, Samuel Costello and Callum Moore leading to a clean sheet, saw us run out eventual 7-0 winners to improve our becoming ever more important goal difference tally.
North Shields 12-0By the time we kicked off on Saturday morning, against North Shields, we knew we had to better Cleveland Halls' score by four clear goals to have any chance of progressing.
The lads were up and at it right from the kick off on the search for goals, we did however stick to our philosophy of a neat, tidy, quick passing game to get us through and it paid off within minutes when the breakthrough came. Further strikes followed soon after due to excellent work down the flanks, on a big pitch, which enabled our forwards and midfield to flood the box in search of goals leading us into half time 5 goals to the good. North Shields seemed to tire early in the second half and allowed us to dominate possession and add to the scoreline through Karl Ross, Liam Anderson, Jack Fortune and Joseph Gibson to name a few, the final scoreline of 12-0, reflecting a fantastic effort from the lads to put pressure on Cleveland Hall and their result against Coast Soccer.
Soon after the final whistle our able spy, James Straughan, returned to inform the lads that we had bettered Cleveland score by 7 goals, qualifying as group winners and a place in the final.
Wallsend Madrid 1-2After a tiring few days the squad were all fired up for the final game of the tournament. We had anticipated a tough, hard fought, physical encounter against Wallsend Madrid and the game lived up to expectations with no-one holding back in the early exchanges. Chances fell to both sides but with both teams in good form the scoreline was kept down to 1-1 at the break. Jack Fortune with the well worked goal for us from a great slide pass from Brogan Heads released him down the left where he left the Wallsend defender on his heels to breeze past him and finish well to the keepers right hand side.
The second half started in much the same vain, end to end stuff with chances for both sides resulting in the woodwork being struck at both ends, however the inevitable was that both sides started to tire and a hopeful ball over the top for Wallsend enabled their forward to poke the ball over the advancing keeper and into the empty net for 2-1. The lads refused to accept that was the end and showed great character and excellent stamina to dominate the last 10 minutes of the game, creating chance after chance, resulting in great saves and goalmouth action. Unfortunately none could be converted and the final whistle ensured we ended up runners-up this time round.
SummaryAll in all a great season opening tournament for the squad where they demonstrated superb ability, fitness and character over a tough three day period. We would like to thank the whole squad for their efforts and commitment, we were proud of you all, not just the way you played your football but the way you conducted yourselves between games on and off the pitch, your parents will be proud of you too. Well done to everyone, including the parents and looking forward to the forthcoming season.
Steve Lowther & Michael Storey
4 August 2010