by Jeff King (with thanks to Anthony Johnson)
Durham County FA Under-18s Saturday League - Saturday 12th October 2024
Chester-le-Street Under 18s 0 v 2 Gateshead Performance Under 18s
The U-18’s came away from today’s game at home to Gateshead performance with a sense of achievement after an all round solid showing. The away side had scored an impressive 36 goals in their first five games prior this match.
First twenty minutes saw the technically gifted Gateshead side see the majority of possession but the CLS Utd lads defended really well with Reid making a couple of important saves.
Moss had a good attempt closed down from his 20 yard free kick which looked to be destined for the net.
The game to this point was pretty much all in central midfield but it was the lads in gold that were happier going into the break 0-0 as they looked to grow into the game.
An early second half attempt from Pye was again blocked well after good work from Beattie and Price.
Not long after this United went behind after a loose back pass allowed their striker to pounce and round the keeper for an open net goal.
Our lads kept the ball much better second half and showed great confidence to get on it overcoming the fear of playing against a really strong side.
Gateshead went further ahead on 75 minutes when a speculative shot from distance created a rebound into the path of their forward who tucked the ball into the empty net from close range.
United had a great 10 minute spell immediately after this playing some good football but today’s opposition defended really well limiting us to half chances only.
An injury to Reid in goal saw right back Hardy having to help the team out as he stuck the gloves on and made a couple of decent saves for us.
Ultimately a couple of errors cost us today but having said that we were up against probably the best footballing side we’ve faced so far and equipped ourselves well with a solid defensive team effort.
The desire and commitment from our youngsters was fantastic to see once again.
Great learning from this young group who are responding really well week on week with the challenges it brings playing against the quality of older teams in what is a very competitive U-18 league.
TEAM : 1. Reid 2. Hardy 3. Cherrie 4. White 5. Price 6. Young 7. Pye 8. Connelly 9. Beattie 10. Moss 11. Hepworth
SUBS : 12. Hall 14. Linsey
MAN of the MATCH : Sam Beattie - difficult task as the lone striker for the debutant today but he unselfishly ran his socks off for 90 mins.
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