Under 14 Youth
NEHYL Premier Division
Match Reports 2011/12

29 Jan 12 - Cove Youth 0 Eldon Celtic 6
Despite a losing score line of 0-6 we were really pleased with the boys performance today. Eldon Celtic have won all of their games this season and gave a solid footballing display showing why they have only lost about 3 times in the last three seasons!! They were strong in every position on the pitch. The lads competed well and showed a level of commitment that they may not have shown all season, a few of the lads put in the in their game of the season. James (Teddy) Bassett playing in an unfamiliar position showed total commitment in a tackle and ended up at Frimley park hospital! His place was taken by Tom Parish who also had a great game in a position he hasn’t played in for a while. The Midfield didn’t stop working all game and the defence certainly had their work cut out. Up front Simon Walton worked his socks off to no avail but never gave up. MoM Alex Stratton for a strong display in midfield.

22 Jan 12 - Cove Youth 1 Windsor 1
With the wind behind us we attacked Windsor pretty much from the start and .lost count of how many shots and chances we had! Any other week we would have had four or five goals in that first half but luck just wasn’t with us.. Then of course Windsor scored with probably their only shot of the half to take a one nil lead at half time. We thought Windsor with the wind behind them in the second half would give us a torrid time but we continued to dominate but frustratingly still couldn’t find the back of the net. With ten minutes remaining we finally got the goal we deserved when Jason Anorim blasted the ball into the roof of the net. We pushed on for the winner but it wasn’t to be. A very good team performance today.

MoM Jason Amorim.

15 Jan 12 - Haslemere 3 Cove Youth 5
Our attacking formation paid early dividends as we took an early lead, but it didn’t take long before an eager Haslemere side started to swamp our three man defence. They attacked with flair and we didn’t learn to handle them quickly enough, soon they had a 2-1 lead! We have learnt that there are no ‘weak’ teams in this league and Haslemere’s lowly position did not reflect in how they played. We (the coaches) got it wrong and had to make changes, at half time the boys also knew they were lacking. We started the second half much more positive and took charge of the game, two quick goals gave us a 2-3 lead. Tyler Hunt on his debut got our fourth before Haslemere got one back and then missed a penalty. For a while they put us under pressure again but a great strike from Jack Rielly (his first of the season) gave us the two goal cushion we needed. We had numerous chances in the second half but Haslemere were always a threat.

Goals: Kailan Loveday, Jordan Withall, Simon Walton, Tyler Hunt and Jack Rielly.

MoM Luke Lawrence-Hunte.

Wokingham & Emmbrook 1 Cove Youth 2
Not a pretty game to watch but a good three points and nearly a clean sheet! We started positively but failed to create any good chances, and as the half progressed Wokingham started to cause us a few problems. Nil Nil at half time was a fair scoreline, Jack Towler worked well in defence keeping their pacey forwards at bay. We finally took the lead midway through the second half when a bit of a goalmouth scramble saw the ball roll out to Simon Walton who put it away to give us the lead we deserved. Our second started when Jason Amorim made a superb run from box to box before being tackled, the ball ran out to Kailan Loveday on the left who hit a great shot which was well saved by the keeper – the ball came back to Kailan who then laid it back to Alex Stratton who hit a bouncing ball into the top corner of the net. A special mention for Bradley Evans who got into the penalty area for a corner – and scored with a good finish only to see mid celebration the linesman had ruled out the goal for offside! We asked the boys to start having a go from distance as we seem to always want to walk the ball into the net, today Prabil Gurung, Luke LH and Jack Rielly were unlucky with well struck shots from outside the box. Wokingham scored their goal from a corner with almost the last kick of the game.

MOM Prabil Gurung

Cove Youth 5 Wokingham & Emmbrook 3
We don’t usually start by mentioning the Man Of The Match but today Kailan Loveday's goals deserve a special mention. The first was superb build up play when five or six passes led to a prefect through ball for ‘K’ to get his first, his second was a shot hit on the stretch which went into the nearside top corner and his third was sublime – hit with power from a tight angle into the far top corner!

Also today it made a change as we came from behind to record a hard fought win. Although we started strongly creating numerous chances we looked out of shape due to the unavailability of ‘Big J’ which caused the breakup of our solid centre back pairing of Big Jordan and Jack Towler. Wokingham punished us with two good goals, Kailan's first made it 1-2 at half time. Wokingham made it 1-3 early in the second half but to their credit the boys kept going and didn’t let their heads drop and were rewarded with two goals in quick succession, Kailan's second and a powering header by Luke Lawrence-Hunte from a corner. For a while it was end to end stuff but Kailan's wonder goal gave us the lead and with only minutes to go Alex Stratton from the edge of the box turned and struck a good shot past the keeper to give us the two goal advantage which meant we could relax for the final minutes. Well done lads a good way to end the year.

Cove Youth 1 Tongham 2
Most of our games with local rivals Tongham are pretty closely contested and this game was no different. A great game to watch as both teams gave their all, it was end to end stuff from the start. Despite numerous chances and goals disallowed it was nil nil at half time. The second half produced more chances and it was Cove who took the lead when Luke Lawrence Hunte bundled the ball over the line from a corner. As in almost all of our games this season we failed to hang onto our lead as Tongham equalised and then went on to get the winner in the closing minutes. MoM Luke LH for a strong performance in midfield.

27 Nov 11 - Hurst 3 Cove Youth 3
Our away games seem to be taking a familiar pattern, getting a comfortable lead and then letting the opposition back into the game and only coming away with a draw that feels like a defeat! Having said that we would have been happy with a draw at Hurst at the start of the day! A cool finish from Tom Parish and a brace from Simon Walton gave us a deserved three nil lead at half time. With a couple of defensive players unavailable through injury and a couple of boys coming off injured we were forced to play a few players out of position which left us light in midfield and for long periods we had to take on the Hurst pressure unable to keep the ball upfield. The goals inevitably came with their third coming 30 seconds from the final whistle. The boys put in the effort and all felt the hurt at the end of the game. Mom Jason Amorim.

20 Nov 11 - Cove Youth 4 Haslemere 2

In a game where we thought we should win we took a more attacking approach with our line up, this nearly paid off early with two chances that really should have been goals. Playing with two wide players we opened up the pitch allowing some nice passing build up play. Two goals from Simon Walton including one penalty gave us the lead we deserved but Haslemere’s pacey forward who kept our back three on their toes all game created a goal for the opposition making it 2-1 at half time. The second half was much the same, they caused problems with the ball through to the fast lad and we had most of the play but still only managed to score two more goals. Simon completed his hat trick and James (Teddy) Bassett scored with a great strike for our fourth. Their fast lad was touched in the penalty area and they scored from the resulting penalty. At training on Thursday we thought that some of the work hadn’t sunk in, so we were pleased when during the game we saw moves being made that showed that they had listened and were doing as we asked. For this and his goals MoM was given to Simon Walton.

13 Nov 11 - Hawley Raiders 7 Cove Youth 0 (Hampshire Cup)
No complaints today we were beaten by a very good Hawley side, for long periods of the first half we gave a good account of ourselves but 3 goals in a five minute spell gave Hawley a 3-0 lead at half time. In the second half their passing and movement off the ball along with their strong physical presence meant they took total control of the game going on to score four more goals. We knew it was going to be a tough match but had hoped the score line was not going to be so one sided!!

MoM Bradley Evans

6 Nov 11 - Liphook 2 Cove Youth 1
This was a closely contested game by two teams of similar ability, both sides created scoring chances and it was Liphook who scored first. Our best chances in the first half were from long distance efforts from Kailan Loveday. Towards the end of the first half a mighty mix up led to the ball rolling slowly into an open net to give Liphook a 2-0 lead at half time. With the wind and slope on our side for the second half we were confident we could still get a result from this game. We did get the early goal we wanted when Suhag Mahim lofted a long drop kick which was met on the bounce by Alex Stratton who put it away well with a neat finish. We went on to have a number of chances, the closest was when Simon Walton latched on to another ball from Suhag and despite hitting a superb effort the ball went just wide. Liphook also had chances including one shot which hit both posts!

This was our first league defeat for 12 months and maybe we should have got a draw from the game but we were not too disappointed with the result.

MoM Suhag Mahim

16 Oct 11 - Windsor 2 Cove Youth 2
A good result for the boys who put in another good performance against a Windsor side who are one of the favourites to win the league. We started well playing some nice football but it was from free kicks and Luke Lawrence-Huntes’ Rory Delap style throw ins that we seemed to cause most problems to the Windsor defence. Our first goal came from a deep ball in from the left which was knocked on by Simon Walton and fell to Alex Stratton who put it in the net at the far post. Our second goal was great to watch, a good ball was played through to Tom Parish, he played a one two with Simon Walton (Simon’s pass back to Tom was a cheeky little back heel). Simon then ran on to the return ball from Tom and passed it into the goal. We deserved our two goal lead but Windsor also had chances and on one occasion if it wasn’t for some last ditch defending from Bradley Evans who had to come off with face injuries Windsor would have scored. 2-0 up at half time was a great position to be in but early in the second half a bad call by the coach (Steve) lead to Suhag holding on to the ball for too long and the ref giving an indirect free kick on the edge of the box. After a touch the Windsor player placed a perfect shot into the top corner of the net, only just beating captain for the day Jordan Withall, who very nearly headed it clear. Both teams had chances to score and Windsor had a good spell of pressure, but it was a an innocuous ball played into the box which rolled past a few ‘air kicking’ defenders and past Suhag into the net to give Windsor their equaliser. It got a bit heated towards the end with two players from each team being booked. Disappointing not to have held on to our two goal lead but a good result none the less. Good performances from a number of boys in a tough match. Luke was outstanding in the first half raising his game to cover for Prabil who was injured. MoM went to Jason Amorim who defended well and attacked down the wing. He also came close to scoring with a good free kick.

9 Oct 11 - Havant & Waterlooville 1 Cove Youth 4 (Hampshire Cup)
What we thought was going to be a tough away trip in the Hampshire Cup ended in a good win as the boys put in a solid performance. Despite having all the possession and playing some neat football it took a real route one effort to break the deadlock – Suhag Mahim lofted the ball from his drop kick, two bounces later and Simon Walton was smacking it into their net! We started the second half a bit lethargic allowing Havant to get more into the game and for a while it was end to end stuff. But three quick goals from Tom Parish (2) and James Bassett settled the game for us and at 4-0 we got a bit complacent allowing them to score a late consolation goal. A few of the boys had their best games of the season so far, Luke Lawrence-Hunte was back to his best and Jordan Swain played well and was unlucky not to score with a great shot which hit the bar. But MoM went to Jack Rielly who gave his all for the full 70 minutes.

2 Oct 11 - Hurst 2 Cove Youth 0 (League Cup)
Again we get a difficult draw in our first league cup match of the season with an away game against now familiar opposition Hurst. The first half was a close affiair between two pretty even sides playing in what must have been one of the hottest October days on record!

Hurst scored two eary goals in the second half - we now needed to chase the game and in the hot conditions it just wasn’t going to happen. Hurst in the end deserved their 2-0 win.

MoM Bradley Evans.

25 Sep 11 - Cove 4 Hurst 2
A good win today against a well organised Hurst side. Simon Walton gave us an early lead but defensive errors gifted Hurst with two easy goals and they deserved their 2-1 lead at half time. Our lacklustre first half meant we had to gee up the boys at half time (we gave them stick!) – to their credit they lifted their game and played with superb team spirit in the second period. The defence were back to their best and worked well covering for each other limiting Hurst’s chances. Our midfield was strong, Prabil Gurung was solid and Kailan Loveday played some neat football. Up front Simon was again on form scoring two more great goals - giving him a well deserved first hat trick of the season. Tom Parish was also on target getting a one on one past the keeper. So we turned it around to complete a convincing 4-2 win against worthy opposition. MoM Kailan Loveday.

18 Sep 11 - Tongham 4 Cove Youth 4
Another close encounter with old rivals Tongham saw us take a 4-1 lead but end up sharing the points! Tongham had a dream start when a defensive mix up allowed them to take an early lead but we soon got into our stride as the match settled down. After a good start to the game Kailan Loveday was rewarded for his efforts with our equaliser. Our next goal was pure genius! Simon Walton under pressure from a defender stuck the ball from distance and a difficult angle – it flew into the net giving their keeper no chance. Two one up at half time gave us the impetus to start the second half the way we finished the first and it wasn’t long before Simon’s persistence gave him his second and our third. Soon after we had our fourth when Jason Amorim scored his first goal for Cove. At this stage maybe we should have changed things but it looked at the time that we could even increase our lead. As in our opening game with Tongham last season they really came at us and chipped away at our lead. Although we had other chances including Tom Parish hitting the post it was almost inevitable that they went on to equalise. MoM was Jack Towler who never stopped working the whole game letting very little pass him!

11 Sep 11 - Cove Youth 3 Colden Common 2 (Hampshire Cup)
After mixed results pre-season is was good to start with a win in our first competitive match, although we should have made our possession in the game give us a more convincing win. Tom Parish opened the scoring when his ‘cross’ squeezed under the keeper and into the net! Colden Common equalised before half time when Jack Towler gave away a crazy penalty which their keeper came up for and blasted it past Suhag in goal.
The second half saw us put them under a lot of pressure leading to us getting a penalty when Alex Stratton was brought down, he got up and put away the pen with a clean strike. Alex was again on target with our third as we started to take control. They did get another but the result was never really in doubt. Not our best performance but it will take time to settle and play how we know we can. Well done to Jordan Vincent and Jason Amorim making their Cove debuts and also Jack Rielly on his return, all three boys played well.

MoM Alex Stratton