by Jeff King (Thanks to Anth Johnson)
Durham County FA Under-18s Saturday League - Saturday 5th October 2024
Morpeth Town Under 18s 2 v 1 Chester-le-Street Under 18s
Our U-18’s faced one of the toughest tests to date away to last seasons league champions Morpeth Town FC.
A cagey first half saw the Chester lads showing great discipline and shape to make it tough for the home side whom were limited to very little opportunities by working really hard.
With Morpeth becoming increasingly frustrated United got more of the ball through forcing mistakes and turnovers which at times turned into some great passage’s of possession and Chester looked really comfortable on the ball at the back and in midfield areas.
It was Brooklyn Moss who put United's youngsters ahead on 25 minutes with a fabulous strike from 30 yards which flew into the top left hand corner giving the keeper little chance. Excellent build up led to the goal with Barker, Bell and Connelly linking up well to release Moss for the finish.
Ten minutes later United's defence switched off from a corner which was played short and the resulting low drive across the six yard box bypassed our defenders for the Morpeth player to tap in at the back post from close range.
Keeper Reid made a great one on one save moments later after good individual work from their lively no 10 which took the game into the break level at 1 - 1.
More of the same second half with both teams cancelling each other out and very few scoring opportunities with both defences standing firm.
With 20 mins remaining Morpeth took the lead with a similar goal to their first as another low drive from out wide landed into the path of the unmarked striker for an unopposed tap in from 4 yards.
Pye had a great chance to equalise in the last minute with a well hit free kick from 25 yards which was destined for the bottom corner but a great save from the keeper pushed it agonisingly the wrong side of the post.
TEAM : 1. Reid 2. Garvey 3. Hepworth 4. Price 5. Whyte 6. Connelly 7. Barker 8. Moss 9. Bell 10. Pye 11. Jackson
SUBS : 12. Hardy 14. Anderson
SCORER : Moss
MAN of the MATCH : Harry Garvey
A solid defensive performance from Harry who won his battles and showed good composure on the ball when in possession.
Coach Anth Johnson's post match thoughts.
"Once again we couldn’t be prouder of the effort and work rate from this young group today. Brilliant discipline and patience to execute the game plan which gave us the chance to stay in the game until the final whistle against a very strong Morpeth U-18 side."
"Lads were great again today although not the right result. Different type of learning to stay compact in the middle and make it hard for some of these teams that technically and physically are a year or two advanced. Really pleasing to see them standing up to the test each week."
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