The under 11's sent two mixed "A" teams to Crowmarsh and did themselves and the club proud.

The "Orange" team of Ethan, Ben, David, Jack S, James, Fin and Mathew Rawlings came up against Crowmarsh B, Didcot Casuals and Oxford Blackbirds in the rounds. The lads were on fine form, and with two wins and a draw, they came out on top of the table, scoring three through Fin (2) and David, and conceding one.

The "Green" team of Ollie, Sam, Adam, Liam, Josh, Jack B and Lawrence had to play Crowmarsh A, Didcot Town, Cholsey and Brightwell. With two wins and two draws, they came second in their league, again scoring three goals (Josh with 2 and Liam 1). and again conceding only one.

With both teams in the quarters, we narrowly missed out on an all-HHYFC game, and instead played the two Didcot teams between us. Orange came up against Didcot Town. They looked a bit below par, but battled hard against strong opposition. After conceding a clumsy goal, they pushed even harder to look for the equaliser, but inevitably a second goal at the end saw off a brave HHYFC performance.

In the second quarter final, the Green team played Didcot Casuals. HHYFC were clearly in control of the game, but the goals were slow coming, and there was a lot of relief when Josh scored. However, a loose moment at the back almost straight from the kick-off gave Didcot a soft equaliser. The boys poured forward in search of a winner and it looked like extra time when Adam popped up on the left flank and unleashed a cross-shot over the keeper into the far right corner of the net.

Into the semi-final, and a tie against Blackbirds, who had come through the previous round on penalties. This was a tight affair. Although Harwell and Hendred were well on top, they were starting to tire, and didn't dominate the penalty area as they had done in previous games, and so it went to golden goal extra time. All through the tournament, Sam had been perfecting his long throw into the penalty area, and it was now that it bore fruit. A head on from Liam, the goalie fumbled it, and the lads were into the Final!

The final came hard on the heels of the semi's, so the las had three hard games with barely a break for water. Even so, playing against Crowmarsh A, the home team and favourites, HHY dominated and played the game largely in their opponent's half. Crowmarsh were restricted to long balls out of defence, but they were tough to stop on the run. One ball caught Adam one-on-one with the Crowmarsh no.14 who made a super turn and sprinted through to score. But when Crowmarsh thought they had got on top, Josh popped up to equalise from a Sam long throw. The rest of the game, and extra time flashed by, and so to penalties.

Josh's first penalty was on target, but saved well. Controversially, Liam's hit the back of the net, but was ruled out by the ref who hadn't blown the whistle. The re-take was missed, and though Sam scored his, Crowmarsh won 2-1.

Bad luck to the boys, but with both teams through unbeaten to the knock-out phase, it shows the overall strength of the squad, and with most of the Orange team staying to cheer on the Greens, that shows the great spirit. Thanks and well done to all of the payers!

Adrian Simcox
05.06.10

The under11's season came to an end at championship chasing Summertown Stars with a performance which will lift the whole squad's confidence for the next campaign.


The first half was a very tight affair with very few chances for either side, Fin having H&H's best chance but being denied by a good save from the home keeper whilst at the other end Summertown were unlucky not to take the lead as a free kick rattled Ethans's crossbar before being cleared.


The second half continued in much the same way with H&H's defence able to cope well against the leagues most prolific attack and the midfield gaining control.

With 20 minutes remaining Fin made good ground on the right of Summertown's area before crossing for Matty to fire in the opening goal. This brought to life the home side who began to pour forward in search of the equaliser only to be snuffed out by the hard working midfield and defence. As the pressure grew in the last few minutes Summertown produced a series of corners which were well defended and eventually the ball was able to be cleared to Liam Bint who the set off on a lung busting run from his own half before producing a a shot of such power it nearly hit the back of the net! What a way to finish the game and the season.


Final Result: Summertown Stars 0 - 2 Harwell & Hendred

On a heavy and bobbly home pitch the U-11s played Marston Saints for the first time this season.
From the off H&H pushed forward with James having an early effort pushed round the post and Finlay losing out on a 1-on-1 with the visiting keeper. The early pressure was maintained and when H&H were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box after 10 mins, Josh expertly dispatched the ball into the far corner. The team kept their work rate high and it was no suprise that the lead was increased with goals from Fin, Josh and an own goal during a five minute purple patch late in the fist half. It could have been even better as Fin set up Jack S only for the striker to hit the bar from close range (There may have been a technical discussion on the way home regarding this incident. Look out for some bandaged ears at training this week! ). Jack, to his credit, kept going forward and provided a great cross for David which was well saved and had a shot deflected for a corner.


Half Time H&H 4 Marston 0


A couple of changes were made at half time with Jack B & Lawrence replacing David & Jack S, with Jack B having an immediate impact with a chance in the first minute which was turned away for a corner. The H&H pressure continued with Josh completing his hat-trick after some good battling by Liam in midfield. On 40 mins a quick throw from Adam sent Fin on his way and his cross was converted by Jack B. After those two goals the game became more scrappy as the pitch conditions took their toll and Marston finally started to create some forward movement which was ably dealt with by the back four to such an extent that Ethan barely had a touch of the ball all game.


Full Time H&H 6 Marston 0

Tony Lundyates

Four of the HHYFC Under 11 team represented Harwell School on Saturday at Manor School's District 6-a-side tournament. The four - Sam Cullen, Jack Bartlett, Adam Simcox and Josh Marner-Smith formed the backbone of a team bidding to retain the trophy they won last year as year 5-students.

With pool wins against South Moreton (2-1), Chilton (3-0), Long Wittenham (4-0) and Blewbury (2-0) they met Chilton again in the final. where they won 3-1. Having conceded an early goal, they took charge of the game and despite some fine saves by the Chilton goalkeeper, came out comfortable winners. Josh led the tournament scoring, helped by the Sam Cullen terror weapon - the long throw - with Jack and Adam also getting a goal each, but what was especially pleasing was the team shape and performance, and how the HHYFC lads helped and encouraged non-club playing colleagues.

Congratulations to Harwell School, and well done to the Harwell and Hendred boys who were a credit to both school and club.

Adrian Simcox

On a cold, wet day at the Recreation ground, quality football was impossible on a very poor, heavy pitch. In a hard fought opening, it was even-stevens, with early Didcot breaks down the Harwell flanks snuffed out by effective defending. Pressing forward it was easier to play down the wings on better grass than down the boggy middle, and David and Jack S made good progress. But closer to goal, the Didcot defenders were quicker to the ball. As the half wore on Harwell and took a two goal lead through Matty and James. Didcot didn't give up and forced several corners, but never seriously threatened the Harwell goal through good midfield cover and good play from Alex and Sam at the back.

Into the second half, and again, the bulk of the game was played in the Didcot half, and it was good to see both fullbacks pressing on in support. But it was Didcot who scored through a quick counter and an uncharacteristic defensive error by Harwell, the goal taken very efficiently by Ryan Morgan. Not much that Charlie in goal - deputising for Ethan today - could do about that; all other threats he dealt with well.

As the match wore on both teams grew tired and cold. Following a couple of weeks holiday, Finlay didn't start, but came on late in the first half for Jack S. However the cold took it's toll and he had to come off again at the start of the second and Jack resumed his place. Stephen, also back from holiday, Jack B and Lawrence also came on to bolster the side, and did a sterling job helping to keep the Didcot team pinned back in their own half. Prime movers in this effort were of course Liam and James, who as ever worked hard from start to finish. Sadly Harwell couldn't make their late dominance pay, but they were well woth the 2-1 victory. Well done to both teams for playing hard on a difficult pitch in poor weather.

It's great to see the confidence coming back into the team after three victories. Although today's game didn't show the flair and firepower of the two previous games, the self confidence and determination shown under difficult conditions was very gratifying. Let's hope this continues into next week's tough match at Whitchurch Hill.

Adrian

Having no match during half-term week, a friendly was arranged to try to keep up the momentum gained last week at Littlemore. Brightwell are doing very well in the C-League, so the game was a chance for them to measure themselves against a B-League team.

Harwell fielded the same team as last week, and again made a good positive start, which resulted in an early goal from David as he beat two players on the edge of the area and hit across the ball, curling his shot away from the keeper into the top right corner. However, Brightwell were not there to make up the numbers, and pressed forward themselves. In particular their #9 was extremely quick, but it was great to see Adam getting close to him, and Sam covering behind when he got through. Again Alex used his speed and size very well to nip attacks in the bud, and Ben had his most confident game to date. Brightwell forced a series of corners, and ultimately found a man free in the 6-yard box to equalise at 1-1.

After that, the defence took charge of the Brightwell forwards, and Ethan after an early wobble, took charge of his area, and this allowed the team to press forward, and goals from Josh and Matty made it 3-1 at the half. Again, the quality of passing was excellent, and the wide team shape was maintained, allowing attacks through the middle or down the flanks. In particular, the full backs and wide midfield players worked well together, and that helped to keep the ball in the opposition half.

The second half was played almost exclusively in the Brightwell half. An excellent goal from Liam, a second for Matty and two more for Josh to complete his hat-trick ultimately gave Harwell a 7-1 win. Another good result for the boys, let's hope it continues with the resumption of league games next week.

Well done to Brightwell, who played hard, and thanks to their parents and coaches for their hospitality and excellent bacon butties!

I don't think I have seen daylight robbery like today since Sunderland won the FA cup against Leeds in the 1970's!

Rusty after a six week lay off, Harwell were unlucky to go behind early after a mix up on the goal line between Ethan and Adam, Conceding early goals is a bad habit we have, but it's fair to say that both players redeemed themselves later! Blackbirds were big and rough, but only had one tactic, boot the ball down the middle for their no.11 to run on to. Luckily, whilst he had great pace, his touch was not perfect, and several times this allowed us to put in tackles. Blackbirds had some initial pressure, and several corners, but had only 4 shots on goal, and Ethan had only one real save to make, so by and large the defence sorted themselves out.

On a claggy pitch, it was hard for the midfield to operate, but they cant take great credit for trying to play football, and as the game went on they took control. With Blackbirds packing the midfield, the only space was wide, and Fin, pulling wide made the most of every opportunity to run at their defence and create chances, working well with Josh and James. By my count we had 15 shots on goal, three of which hit the post. Going forward as we did, the opposition penalty area became packed; sometimes this works for us with the ball pinging around masses of legs, sometimes not. In today's conditions, where it was hard to put any power on the shots, luck deserted us and the ball tended to be cleared.

The conditions took their toll in the second half, as everyone's boots became heavier and heavier. Ben, Lawrence and Jack B came on as substitutes to freshen up the tiring troops, but despite everyone's efforts, we just couldn't get that break through, much to the despair of the home supporters. Sometimes you have a game where the ball just won't go in.

So, let's congratulate Blackbirds on sticking to their task, and we'll take heart from the fact that we were certainly the better team. On another day it might have been 6-0 to us. We were a little rusty after the lay off but we did try to play fooitball. Hopefully we will sharpen up at training on Wednesday ready to play Marston next week.

Again thanks to all the Dads who sortrd out the posts, to Adrian for running the line, and to Ross for refereeing what became a niggly game.

Adrian Simcox

Now that is what I call a game of two halves! In fact there were three distinct periods in the game today.

In the first 10 minutes we managed to do everything at the back that we try not to do......swing and miss, mark on the wrong side, pass the ball too short, and be too passive - waiting for the ball to arrive rather than make the ball ours. And we paid the price - 3-0 down in 10 minutes was the nightmare we all feared with both of our centre backs unavailable. There is no question that Crowmarsh played well, but equally we didn't. But a lesser side than this would have collapsed and been crushed, so it is to the boys credit that rather than let their heads go down, they started to battle.

In the next 20 minutes, we managed to keep Crowmarsh out and made a couple of chances of our own. Finlay's heavy collision with the keeper showed the level of desire and commitment we needed to compete, and the boys took that on board. The battling brought a penalty for pushing in the box, and though Josh struck it wide, showed Crowmarsh that we too had teeth.

In the second half we looked much more like a team. The defence settled down, and the midfield started to compete. A change from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 pushed James on, pulled Josh into the midfield battle and David out wide, and this seemed to suit them better. Most of the second half was played in the Crowmarsh half, and with the number of chances created, we could easily have been level but for a great performance by the opposition keeper. So the guys can take a lot of confidence from that second half. We pushed the League leaders hard and but for the first 10 minutes may have taken something from the game. We need to remember that we have to actively compete for every ball or we surrender posession, and we have to have the discipline to stay in position and pass the ball. When we do we are good.

Great performances today from Sam and Stephen at the back. Stephen's tackling was excellent and Sam's covering and positional sense brought a halt to many of the Crowmarsh attacks. Ethan had his best game this season. Not because of flashy saves, but because he is starting to control his penalty area - coming out at attackers and clearing through balls. His kicking today was also very good. Matty and Lawrence both did well coming on in the second half, and I have to say thankyou to Fin and James who ran themselves ragged today for no reward.

A pretty low ebb for the team at Chalgrove. With 5 players out through illness, we were able to take a bare 12 to Chalgrove, leaving us short in midfield and at the back. At the back Jack B was paying well out of position at right back, and worked hard, but Chalgrove consistently threatened the flanks and time and again Adam had to put in cover tackles to keep the score down. Harwell did manage to pass the ball forward with Lawrence showing some good touches on his full debut, and James as ever putting in a hard shift of chasing up front. They threatened the Chalgrove goal, but couldn't seem to find the cutting edge to make their pressure pay.

The biggest problem, however, was the weather. Driving windy rain froze the boys and sapped their energy. Although it was the same for both teams, it was the Harwell boys that seemed to be affected more - I guess it's always worse when you're losing - and as they slowed down, Chalgrove dominated more. They took full advantage of some panicky full-back play and scored two quick goals then a third before half time.

At half time it was clear that the lads were in a bad way. Jack B couldn't continue, and Adam could no longer run - and this was much in evidence at the start of the second half as Chalgrove pressed forward untouched to score their 4th goal. At this point we decided that it was unreasonable to put the lads through another 25 minutes and forfeited the game.

On a cold damp day at the Rec it was good to have the whole squad available once more. Although Fin and Josh were not fully fit after their respective breaks their availability gave the team a different dynamic. Beating high Flying A-League Radley on an energy sapping pitch would be a tall order for the lads, but it was a challenge they were certainly up for.

In a pretty even first half, Radley came forward confidently, attacking down both flanks. Stephen filling in at full back to cover Jack who was suffering with a cold, then later for Ben who was running out of steam late in the game, worked hard to cover Radley's playmaker and helped out by Matty and by the centre backs just about kept on top of the situation. Ben and Alex handled the right flank and through the centre, Adam and Alex together played possibly their best game as a unit. Ethan looked confident in goal, making a couple of saves, but also coming out to collect through balls that strayed too close to him. At the other end, Radley just about handled the pace of Josh and Fin, but had they been a little sharper and resisted taking on that last man, Harwell may well have taken the lead. Indeed, a cross-shot from Fin rolled inches from the line and James just failed to tap it in. Moments later though, Radley took the lead with a high class goal. The no. 7 picked the ball up on the right, cut inside of Stephen and before Adam could get across launched a shot over Ethan into the top left corner of the goal. Minutes later it might have been two, with a header from a free kick disallowed for off-side.

Still, one-down at half time and with Harwell holding their own the game was still there to be won. But two quick goals after the break effectively won the game for Radley. The second of these came through a shot hitting the bar and the defence not reacting to the second ball, and this set a bit of a pattern for the remainder of the game. Especially in midfield, the Harwell challenge gradually died away, and it was increasingly difficult to clear the ball, or to play it out to the forwards. Although the lads kept battling, they were running out of steam and losing shape. They got a great shot on the arm when James scored a well deserved goal but by this time, we had lost Alex to injury, and Ben, Liam and James were running on empty. So it was a much changed team that conceded late goals for an eventual 5-1 defeat.

Radley were the stronger team and certainly deserved the win, but 5-1 was harsh on Harwell, who contributed much to a good game of football. The lads certainly worked very hard today and can look forward to a more competitive league game next week.

After defeat against Crowmarsh, Harwell had to field another understrength team against Blackbirds. Blackbirds lowly position in the B-League belied their strength and pace, and it was a much more difficult game than expected. Harwell did play a lot better than in the last game; passing the ball better, and having more width in attack.

The first half was very combative, with the Blackbird lads not being afraid to use their physical strength to win the ball, though the one Oxford player was fortunate that the referee did not see his use of the elbow after he lost the ball in midfield. That said, the referee had a very good game, fair to both sides. Blackbirds main threat came from their physical no.10, and their lightning fast no.11. The former played well until he ran out of steam, but no.11 was a threat all game, and was very adept at splitting the centre backs; Alex had a very good game battling to counter this threat. However, Blackbirds scored first and we turned around a goal down.

In the second half, Harwell's greater level of fitness told. Going forward there wasn't the usual pace, but passing wide paid dividends. With Matty on the left from half time, Jack B starting for the first time on the right, and James his usual busy self in the centre, the lads made up for a lack of cutting edge with masses of hard work. Many shots were just off target or scrambled away, and this was proof of Harwell's ascendency in the second half, and it was great that Jack was able to score on his debut, with a fine shot into the roof of the net. After this equaliser, the remainder of the match was more even, but the initiative remained with Harwell to the end. Overall, a 1-1 draw was a fair result, but on the balance of chances Harwell can be disappointed they didn't come away with the points.

And thankyou to Ollie, who didn't get on today, but whose support was very much appreciated.

On a miserably wet day at the Rec, an understrength Harwell and Hendred suffered their first defeat of the season against a strong Crowmarsh team. With forwards Finlay (on holiday) and Josh (chipped ankle bone) out, new boy Sam started up front, with James, Stephen and Liam making up a central three and Matty an Charlie wide. The usual suspects - Ben, Alex, Jack and Adam made up the back four wih Ethan our anchor in goal.

Crowmarsh started the stronger, and put the Harwell boys under consistent pressure down the centre and left. They were happy to push the ball long and use their excellent pace to turn the defenders and put them on their heels all the time. However, against the run of play a classic Harwell counter attack put them in front. A short kick from Ethan found Matty on the left who played it down the line to Stephen. He skipped over the Crowmarsh tackle and crossed the ball in to find Sam who found the target for a great debut goal. But the joy was short-lived. Shortly after, Ben injured a muscle in his neck when taking a long throw and had to come off. Stephen dropped into right back and David came into the midfield. Crowmarsh continued to push forward and by half time were 4-1 up. The pick of the goals was a volley into the left of the goal, which Ethan got a hand to but couldn't keep out.

In the first half the lads seemed tentative, not taking charge of situations to clear the ball, or get in early tackles, however they improved in the second half, pushing back Crowmarsh and playing much of the game in their half. The lads finally started getting width into the attack and creating pressure on their back four, but suffered from a lack of pace. However one move did result in a goal from David, which gave the lads brief hope. However, in pushing forward holes did appear at the back, and Crowmarsh exploited this using their advantage in pace to close out the game 6 - 2.

A disappointing game from the Harwell perspective, certainly below par, but a spirited second half leaves us with hope for next week's game. Full marks to Crowmarsh for a very good performance. And thanks and congratulations to Ross Sheppard who refereed his first game after taking the Referee course.

An unusual game at Brasenose Park had Didcot on the back foot for most of the first half. However it was Didcot who scored first lashing the ball in at the near post. Harwell continued to pour forward, and it was Fin that leveled the game, chasing a long clearance from Adam he got there just before the keeper and nudged the ball home. Two goals from Josh - the first a superb turn and shot across the keeper, the second converting a cross from Fin made it 3-1 at half time.

It had all seemed to be too easy in the first half, and Harwell started the second half a little bit too casually, allowing Didcot back into the game. The half turned into a ding-dong battle, with Didcot coming forward bravely, and looking very threatening, but with Harwell replying with fast counter-attacks. Two goals each to Fin and Josh countered 4 goals from Didcot in what must have been the oddest half of football I have seen in a long time.

The final score 7-5 didn't reflect Harwell's dominance of the first half. It indicated good firepower, but a fragility in midfield and defence that we will have to work on. Well done to Didcot for hanging in there.

We welcomed the return from illness of Ethan in goal and James up front, but had Alex missing from the defence. This resulted in positional changes for some of the boys and it took a few minutes at the start for the boys to get used to their new roles. However once the game settled down it turned out to be a very good game between two evenly matched teams.
It was Whitchurch who scored first with an attack down their right which was started by a superb, defence splitting, through ball to which their striker outpaced the HHYFC defence to be through on goal, his shot was well stopped by Ethan but it was the Whitchurch attackers that were first to react to the loose ball, turning it into the net for a 0-1 lead.
Full credit to the HHYFC boys for not letting their heads drop, and if anything falling behind seemed to spur them on, and they took the game by the scruff of the neck. A number of chances came but some strong defending by the Whitchurch defence kept the ball out of the goal. It wasn’t long though before Josh found himself, in an unusual position for him, on the left corner of the penalty area and after a couple of strides forward he put a well place shot into the opposite corner of the net to equalise, 1-1.
This goal was quickly followed by a second when following a foul on the right, halfway inside the Whitchurch half of the pitch, Josh placed a great free-kick into the Whitchurch penalty area which David calmly controlled on his chest and smashed a good volley in to the Whitchurch net, 2-1 to HHYFC.
This was soon followed by another goal which again came from another Josh free-kick, this time taken from the centre-circle, again it was struck well into the space behind the Whitchurch defence to which Finlay reacted superbly following it through to turn it past the Whitchurch keeper to give HHYFC a 3-1 lead at half-time.
The second half started with Whitchurch looking to attack and get back into the game; however the HHYFC defence and midfield were not going to give away their lead easily and battled well for every ball. HHYFC held out well and after 10 minutes of the second half, David and Matty were given a well earned rest and replaced by Jack B and Ollie, although David’s rest was short lived, as Adam was suffering from a sore knee and David came back on soon after to replace him in defence. Whitchurch continued to attack and gained a corner on their right. The corner was swept into the penalty area and after some “pinball” around the penalty spot the ball was swept into the net to make the score 3-2, although it did look to many of us watching that Liam had been fouled when trying to clear the ball, but this wasn’t seen by the referee and the goal stood. Full credit to the boys they accepted the decision and just got on with the game.
We were now well into the later stages of the game and Whitchurch were pushing forward trying to force an equaliser but the HHYFC boys were holding their own and sticking to their original formation, with Finlay and James staying upfront looking for any opening that might come their way. It was from Finlay taking one of these opportunities that resulted in a great chance for HHYFC to increase their lead when he broke wide down the right and put a lovely cross into the box that just evaded both Ollie and James at the back post.
With game coming towards it’s close HHYFC cleared another Whitchurch attack down the right, Finlay outpaced the Whitchurch defence to the ball and through on goal he calmly placed the ball past the advancing keeper into the net, 4-2 to HHYFC and there was barely time for Whitchurch to restart the game.
A well deserved, result, from a very good all round team performance, from all the boys involved, against a good, physical, Whitchurch Hill team. Ethan didn’t have too much to do in goal but was always alert and ready when needed, the defence of Ben, Adam (and David when he replaced Adam), Jack S and the outstanding Stephen withstood most of what was thrown at them, with Stephen making some outstanding well-timed sliding tackles. The midfield of David, Josh, Liam, Matty and the substitutes Jack B and Ollie, were again excellently marshalled by the hard-working Liam, battled for everything. Upfront Finlay and James again provided some superb link play, made some great runs and looked to be a very good partnership. And last, but by no means least, the excellent support and encouragement provided by the parents and coaches.
A great result which has taken the team, at this early stage in the season, to the top of their league.
WELL DONE EVERYBODY.
Adrian Green 27.09.09

On paper this looked like a difficult fixture, and the job was made more difficult with both Ethan and James unavailable through illness. However, Stephen and Charlie both volunteered to go between the sticks, and it was Charlie that eventiually took the gloves. Before the game the lads looked a little distracted, which last year was not a good sign, and in the first 15 minutes of the game Abingdon put them under pressure, being first to the ball in midfield. However, the back four was solid and there were no chances of any consequence. Much of the Abingdon play came down the flanks and Matty and Josh found themselves working hard covering the full back positions.

The Harwell attacking play tended to go through the centre, and as the half wore on, both Josh and Finlay managed to carve out chances which the Abingdon keeper did well to foil. One great run ended with Fin colliding with the keeper. Penalty? On another day perhaps, but the referee didn't give it and the Harwell players didn't complain. Almost inevitably it was Finlay who opened the scoring. When the ball broke to him on the edge of the penalty area he curled it beyond the keeper into the right side of the goal. The lead was doubled not long after when Josh had his cross-shot palmed into the net by the keeper. Perhaps a little bit lucky, but no more than Josh deserved for his persistance.

Into the second half, Matty came off for a while to rest his suspect ankle and the midfield was re-jigged. This seemed to confuse the boys a little but again they took a grip of the game. With Liam, David and Stephen working hard in the middle, Fin moved out right and continued to cause problems, whilst Josh carved out a number of chances that were foiled by the keeper, until at last he succeded with a one-on-one chance, placing it over the keeper and into the right half of the net. At 3-0, and with legs starting to tire, Abingdon came back into the game, but good tackling from Ben, Adam and Alex and excellent covering from Liam and Jack S held the line. Charlie was a revelation in goal, confident under the high ball, and swift to cover the through ball. A close call came through a mix up where Charlie collected a back pass, but Abingdon could not convert the free kick. They did manage a goal however with a long range lob that Charlie could do nothing about.

With Ben tiring, Josh moved to right back, supported by Jack B and Ollie went up to support Finlay. It was a trademark run and cross from Finlay that set up Ollie for the 4th goal from close range in the dying minutes.

Overall then, a good performance and excellent result. Importantly, the whole squad is starting to gel and support each other, and the game was played in a great spirit. Still areas for improvement at training, but the good start continues.

Adrian

Score:

HHYFC 10 - Littlemore Youth - 0

Scorers: (all HHYFC)

Liam Bint, David Cooper, Josh Marner-Smith (4), Finlay Greenfield (2) Steven Netting, Ollie Green

Report:

In their first ever competetive 11-a-side game Harwell and Hendred took full advantage of an under strength Littlemore team with an emphatic result at the Recreation Ground. Both teams started slowly, and for the first 10 minutes the sides seemed evenly matched, with chances at both ends. But soon after Harwell found their confidence, took a firm grip of midfield, and put the Littlemore goal under heavy pressure. By half-time two goals from Greenfield and Marner Smith were a meagre reward for the number of chances created, with the Littlemore keeper keeping his team in the game. James Thomas in particular found some great positions but couldn't find the back of the net.

After the break, Harwell again flowed forward and the goals started to come. Finlay Greenfield caused havoc on the right flank, scoring again and setting up several chances for his team mates. The pick of the goals was a long range lob from Liam Bint, but David Cooper also tucked a great goal in after a run and cross from Finlay was nodded on by James at the near post and reached David un-marked at the far post. Great credit goes to Littlemore for battling on and keeping their discipline, but as they tired the score mounted. By this time, most of the Harwell midfield were queueing up in the box to score and Steven Netting and Ollie Green took advantage of poor defending to increase the Harwell total.

Whilst the Harwell midfield and forwards controlled the game, the defence looked very solid, and at one point indulged in a game of head tennis between Alex Lundyates and Adam Simcox on the half-way line before clearing the ball. Littlemore did get through late in the game, but Ethan MacIntosh saved well to prevent a consolation goal.

A very good performance from all of the team members. But I suspect there will be much tougher matches to come!

Final score HHYFC 10, Littlemore 0.