Trafalgar Victory played Moe United at Trafalgar for round 2 of the LVSL Under 14 competition. It was a tight match throughout the day with very little separating the two teams, both on the pitch and scoreboard.
To be honest, Moe did a great job to stay in the game early as they started the match with only 8 players on the pitch. Trafalgar had many scoring opportunities. However, the young Moe defence played very well to deny Trafalgar goals in the early stages of the match.
As the half continued, more players arrived for Moe and it wasn’t long before they had a full complement of players with spares on the bench. The speed of the young Moe strikers were proving a genuine concern for the Trafalgar backline and it was Moe who took the lead courtesy of a pass back to keeper Luke. The resulting Moe free kick found the gap in the Trafalgar wall to barely pass over the goal line via a rebound off the cross bar. However, it was only a minute or two later that Luke made the save of the day as he fended off a one on one shot at goal with his outstretched right hand. Greta keeping Luke!
Trafalgar answered promptly via a nice low drive from mid fielder Michael Judd from the top of the box, to level the match just prior to the half time break.
Half time was spent going over wall positioning and formations as well as discussions centred around how to best attack the forward third and to penetrate the huge defensive numbers in the Moe box.
The second half commenced with a less than ideal start for the Victory, with Moe United’s speedster Callum Nash, scoring his second goal of the game and putting Moe up 2-1. Gradually as the game unfolded and the younger Moe team tired, the Trafalgar lads got on top of the game. The Trafalgar midfield combination of Nick Tammes, Jacob Holmes and Michael Judd controlled the centre of the park and provide great linkage between the back four and the front three. All three were evasive on the ball and creative with their passing.
The back line got control once again in the second half with Jackson and Connor playing reliable and strong matches. Both boys read the play well and importantly make intelligent decisions in the heat of play. Hardy and Aedan controlled their defensive wingers effectively and both began providing drive along their respective wings. It was a new role for Aedan with the experienced Flynn George missing from the back four, and he got better and better as the game continued.
Up front Darcy worked tirelessly to provide options and is not far away from scoring himself. Whilst Finn, Drew and Jack rotated upon the wings and all three lads showed positive signs especially in the second half of the game. Jack strung together some nice passes and retained possession of the ball well. Finn made some nice runs along the wing and combined well with Aedan to gain valuable ground. Drew always brings speed and enthusiasm to the game and he once again delivered.
By the end of the day with the Trafalgar team well on top it was Michael Judd who levelled the game with his second goal, then scored the match winning sealer with his third. His hat-trick was enough to secure the three points and to send his team mates into “hand waving” raptures.
All up it was an extremely entertaining win to Trafalgar. Moe are to be congratulated upon a gallant performance. Especially having started the match low on player numbers and for fielding so many under aged players.
This week’s BK player of the week was awarded to Jacob Holmes for his dazzling skills.
