by Jeff King (With Thanks To Micky Barron)
Durham County FA Under-18s Saturday League - Saturday 9th November 2024
Spennymoor Town 3 v 1 Chester-le-Street United Under 18s
Another tough assignment for United's very young Under-18's who on a weekly basis are playing against teams older and more experienced than themselves. But it's a great learning opportunity for United's players as they look to progress higher.
This time Spennymoor Town away were the opposition and it has to be said that once again for long periods of the game Chester matched their hosts and could easily have gotten a more positive result.
The win for Spennymoor though took them into 4th place in the 16 team table whilst United are in 13th. United's position and results perhaps not reflecting the effort, ability and determination they have put in during their rookie season.
United started with a 4-3-3 formation and wanted to press from the front . Unfortunately they conceded after 2 minutes when they failed to clear the ball and a shot was poked low into the net .
United responded really well and started getting success with their press and regaining possession higher up the pitch . The equaliser came on 9 minutes when a terrific Jackson Cherrie cross was headed in by Shay Pye at the back post.
As well as being level on goals the game was even at this point with both sides creating chances . Sam Beattie and Pye were linking up well down the right hand side for United in the early stages/
Unfortunately United conceded again on 21 minutes when they lost their shape defensively allowing the forward to break free and run at them before placing and a low shot across and past Josh Reid.
The goal buoyed the home side and United had to dig deep and managed to get in at half time only trailing 2-1 .
Chester started the second half on the front foot and had 2 glorious chances through Beattie and Pye to draw level but unfortunately took neither. United were playing really well and winning a lot of possession in midfield areas .
They just couldn't convert their possession and play into an end product and paid the price when they conceded again on 75 minutes. They didn't deal with a low cross into the 6-yard area the striker beating Reid to the ball to bundle home.
United in fairness never let their heads drop and continued to look for opportunities but the two-goal cushion that Spennymoor had enabled them to control the last 15 minutes and see the game out well.
TEAM : 1. Josh Reid 2. Harry Garvie 3. Jackson Cherrie 4. Ethan Connelly 5. Harrison Price 6. Alex White 7. Shay Pye 8. Ollie Lindsey 9. Sam Beattie 10. Brooklyn Moss 11. Max Hepworth SUB : 12. Brandon Wansay
SCORER : Pye 8 mins
MAN of the MATCH : Jackson Cherrie
Micky Barron commenting post game had this to say :
"The effort and attitude from all players was superb and I can’t praise them enough for this performance. A lot of positives to take from this defeat . Mom was hard to select but we gave it to Jackson Cherrie was was superb all game."
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