Under 8 Match Reports

Saturday 24th April 2010 : Ringmer Rovers v Broad Oak & Horam
Although the score line may not suggest it, this was probably our best performance of the season so far. Some of the passing and movement was first class, a clear indication that Mark and myself must be doing something right and that the boys are taking note.

We started the match with Matt in goal, defence of Jake and Michael, midfield of Frazer, George, Finlay and Henry up front. After only a few minutes Michael got a whack and was replaced by Luca, who slotted in at the back.

The first half was pretty much one way traffic and at times we had Broak Oak chasing shadows, Henry, Frazer and Luca all had shots on goal but we couldn't find the goal our dominance deserved.

The second half got on under way with Finlay coming off and Michael replacing him in midfield. The second half was pretty much the same as the first half, Jake and Luca both keeping things tight at the back and both of them venturing forward when the opportunity allowed. Frazer, George and Michael were dominating the midfield and Henry for all his effort not quite getting the breaks his efforts deserved.

Against the run of play, a long ball forward caught out our defence and Broad Oak's big number nine, run through and gave Matt no chance with a fine finish in the top corner. 1-0 to Broad Oak.

The lads kicked off and kept probing and playing, lovely move in midfield, resulted in a fine pass from Frazer to Henry and Henry's shot got a favourable bounce off a bump in the goalmouth, evaded their keeper.....1-1 and game on......a winner was still likely but never came and some good closing down and pressure from Jake and Luca in the last seconds stopped Broad Oak from getting a clean shot at goal...

Saturday 24th April 2010 : Polegate Grasshoppers v Ringmer Rovers
Match 2 was against the hosts Polegate Grasshoppers.  We kicked off with Finlay in goal and the same outfield formation as the first game, the only change was with Matt on the bench.  After a couple of minutes of jousting the game turned into a completely one sided affair......Henry slotted in a couple of quick goals, hit the crossbar and then managed to score three more before half time. Frazer continued his scoring run from midfield with another cool finish. Half time 6-0 to Ringmer Rovers.

In the second half we changed things around......we played 8 a-side.....with Henry after his finishing master class, moving into defence with Michael.....Jake, George and Fin in Midfield and Matt and Luca up front.

No real change in the second half as we again dominated....and with Polegate dropping their heads, Matt scored two more, George scored a fine long range effort and Luca wrapped things up with a cool close range tap in after some fine work from Matt.  11-0 to Ringmer!!!!!

Saturday 13th March 2010 : Ringmer Rovers v Hailsham United & Hailsham Ravens
Last week we played Hailsham United Ravens and United teams with our partner team Uckfield Grasshoppers, Ravens.

Our first game against Hailsham United resulted in a fantastic win of 1 - 0.  Henry scored a thumper of a goal with an unstoppable left foot shot in the first half.  Well done Henry, truly impressive. This was backed up with a fine team performance with some great midfield and defence action.  Midfield was held together by Frasier, Luca and Jacob with Finlay and Matthew assisting in midfield and in defence.  Michael was rock solid keeping United out with a couple of great saves.  Second half saw a team change around with Jacob and Michael in defence, Luca in goal. A fantastic effort by all particularly Fraser.  Henry nearly scored a second time from a well taken corner by Finlay.

Our second match against Hailsham Ravens also resulted in a victory 1 - 0.  This time Finlay was in goal for the first half taking a great one on one save keeping the score at 0 - 0.  A good defensive showing by Frasier and Luca with a particularly good effort from Matthew and Michael.  A good half showing of tackling and passing with the whole team talking to each other really well.  Second half, straight from kick off and three passes later the ball found the back of Raven's net - GOAL!  A fantastic running shot by Frasier.  This carried on throughout the second half and in the opinion of the U8s sports journalist, Michael was man of the match!  A special mention must go to Luca who made a first class save stopping a dead certain goal.  A great result by all the lads - well done!  Hope to see Oscar and Liam next time.

Saturday 7th November 2009 : Ringmer Rovers v Hailsham
On Saturday we welcomed unbeaten Hailsham to Ringmer on the back of two heavy defeats to Ratton in October.  More welcoming was Jacob's return to midfield where he was sorely missed last month.

A different formation was tried against Hailsham, with Michael (the outstanding player against Ratton by a country mile) continuing in goal, Finlay and Matthew in defence, Henry and Jacob in midfield and Luca as the lone striker.

As the first game kicked off it was obvious to see that last months heavy defeats where not affecting the boys, Matthew and Finlay where assured at the back and fairly comfortable throughout, Henry and Jacob were dominating the midfield helping out the defence and supporting Luca up front and Luca looked more comfortable up front in the lone striker role with his selfless running.

It was no surprise when we took the lead after dominating the proceedings....a brilliant solo goal by Jacob and a peach of a strike from Henry sandwiched a brief lapse in concentration in defence which gave Hailsham hope with a soft goal and although they also hit the post we managed to claim a famous 2-1 victory and inflict them of their first defeat of the season.

Most pleasing was the way we tried to play football rather than just hoofing the ball forward, at times it was a joy to watch.  A quick chat from Mark and myself and we were up and running for game two.

It was much of the same, as we continued to play all the football and leave Hailsham chasing shadows. The hero of the Ratton mauling, Michael, was almost a mere spectator.

Another penetrating run from Jacob ended up with him slotting home his second goal of the day as he ran through and poked the ball past their keeper. 1 - 0 soon became 2 - 0 as a pinpoint corner from Finlay was met by a near post run from Henry who side footed home...........GET IN THERE!!!!!!!!

The second half was to bring more rewards when Jacob run through and was bravely met by the keeper...as the ball spun loose Luca was at hand to react first and calmly slot home for 3 - O!!!!!!  Another Finlay corner nearly made it 4 - 0 but Luca couldn't quite force the ball home from a tight angle at the far post.

After looking solid and comfortable we managed to concede two more soft goals late on to make things a little nervy. But the win was never in doubt and 3 - 2 it finished.

Well done boys...good stuff. Some things to work on in training on Saturday, but the improvement is significant and you've all come on leaps and bounds.

Saturday 26th September 2009 - Ringmer Rovers v Broad Oak & Horam
What a fantastic start for our U8s squad with their journey to Broad Oak & Horam being rewarded with some fantastic football from a side that hadn't even trained together before hitting the pitch for their first ever fixture.

We started with Luca in goal, Matthew and Oscar in defence, Jacob and Finlay holding the midfield and Henry up front and it wasn't long before Luca rewarded us with a fine point blank save to keep the scores level after some early home pressure whilst we found our feet and got to grips with the pace of the game. However, from very early on we did very well to maintain the shape I had asked the boys to play but nevertheless we did go one down to a great turn and finish from the strong Broad Oak striker. It could have been the cue for the floodgates to open, but our new squad showed immediate resolve as they started to take the game to the opposition and begin to dominate for the rest of the half being rewarded for some fine work in midfield from Finlay and Jacob giving Henry the chance to threaten up front and grabbed an equaliser with Jacob finding the back of the net after a great solo run.  Our back two also started to time their tackles better and we were never really threatened for the rest of the half.

More of the same in the second half as we put Michael in goal and Luca came out to join Jacob in midfield as Finlay dropped back into defence with Matthew as Oscar took a breather.  Finlay was inspired in defence alongside a solid Matthew, Jacob played a blinder in midfield and Henry was a constant threat up front, but it was Luca's doggedness that earned us the lead as he chased what could have been a helpless cause, creating havoc in the Broad Oak defence as the ball broke to Jacob who ran on to finish beautifully. We were unlucky not to score again as we pressed for a third, before disaster struck minutes before the end as the ball somehow evaded Michael's grasp as it dribbled over the line for what was a barely deserved equaliser for the home side very much against the run of play. Not enough time to force a winner, but a creditable performance nevertheless.

For the second game, Luca volunteered to go back in goal and with Finlay having proved to be a natural defender in this format, we paired him with Michael pushing Matthew into midfield alongside Jacob and giving Oscar a chance to show us his powerful shot up front. Well, that was plan A, but it all went out the window very early as the hosts won an early corner, taken quickly, striking the side of Luca's head in goal and going in for a 1-0 lead.  A stunned Luca bravely volunteered to soldier on, but when moments later a second quickly taken corner came off Michael's back and into the net for a second we had some quick lessons to learn about concentration. Luca, still stunned from the first goal came off to recover, Michael went back into goal, Oscar reverted to defence and Henry came back on to play up front. A few minutes later and we had regained some of the composure from the first game and then came the move of the day, with some lovely passing from the back, through the midfield duo, who both played lovely one touch passes before it was squared for Henry to blast home well. Back in the game and beginning to settle down, we threatened every time we went forward, but it was the hosts who struck again with a break and great finish down the left, before we showed again how dangerous we are when we pass the ball, Jacob then beating two players before delivering another clinical pass for Henry to drill in his second.

With Luca back on for the second half and Matthew taking a breather we continued to toil for the equaliser, but another break away goal sealed the victory for the hosts despite being out played for all but the first three minutes of the match.

Lots to work on in training but many many more positives than negatives and lots to look forward to for the rest of the season. For the next two weeks, the first hour of training will be with Coerver and then for the last half hour we will take the squad aside and give them specific match training in preparation for our next fixture in three weeks time.

Well done to all of you, I was so proud even if we were robbed of the win we so deserved.