Under 11’s - Wickham Wanderers 6-a-side Champions
The Wickham tournament weekend arrived with the A & B sides playing on pitches next to each other…..now how did that happen?!
The first A team game saw them up against local rivals Lambourn B. The 1st minute of the game was all in Lambourn’s half until finally Albie got a cross in that went all the way to the opposite side. Karl sent the ball back into the box and Albie was there to tuck the ball away. Wickham were encamped in Lambourn’s half but they could not convert anymore chances. With Wickham playing up the slope the game was more even but they still could not score again, thus gaining a 1-0 victory.
Next up was Kingsclere B who played down the slope and probably just shaded the first half despite Charlie and Albie having a half chance each. The second half was all Wickham and in the 2nd minute a goal kick was headed back by Karl over the defender for Albie to run onto and put away. Right near the end James made a cracking save giving Wickham a 1-0 win.
Theale Tigers were next up with the lads almost scoring from the kick off; but almost was the story of this game. Although dominating through individual performances, no one could put the ball into the back of the net which meant the division would probably be decided on goal difference.
The final match was against Aldermaston A. Charlie won the ball from the centre and raced through only to hit the post. Within seconds Jesse had hit the same post, would Wickham finally score? With three minutes gone Charlie volleyed in Albie’s corner to take a deserved lead. Almost immediately it was 2-0 as Albie converted Jesse’s cross, but still chances were being missed. Despite playing up the hill in the second half Wickham continued to attack and in the 2nd minute Jesse went down the left, got his cross into Charlie who rounded the keeper to score. A 3-0 win proved to be 1 goal too few as Theale topped the group, on goal difference, by one goal. [Where has that happened before?]
The first B game against Abingdon saw the B’s dominated but just before half time a corner was swung in which Jordan punched clear. The ball was lobbed back in and despite Jordan getting a hand to it, the ball hit the bottom of the bar and went in. Right at the end of the second half Adam and Olly broke but the chance fell to Olly on his right foot and the shot just went wide.
Next came Aldermaston B and a win was needed. Playing down the hill in the first half more than half a dozen good chances were created but none were put away. Finally with almost the last kick of the half, Bert swung in a corner which went straight in. This goal gave Wickham the confidence in the second half and the lead was doubled by a great strike from Callum into the top left corner of the goal. Finally, a nicely worked goal saw a defensive throw in by Jack Bolton to Jack Wild who, when reaching the halfway line fed Callum through to score his second and secure a 3-0 win.
The 3rd match was against Kingsclere A which the lads seemed to be dominating but a breakaway saw the ball crashed into the roof of the net giving Jordan no chance. Right on half time Callum sent Adam away. His shot was well saved but Callum following in put the rebound away. At the same time as Charlie scored for the A team against Aldermaston, the ball was swung into the box for Callum to put a header away. Some good defending and some good saves by Jordan ensured the second win.
Wickham B would qualify for the quarter finals if they avoided defeat against Lambourn A. However, a great strike from distance saw Lambourn open the scoring at the start of the second half. Wickham threw everyone forwards to get the equaliser but then, right at the end, conceded a second so they just failed to progress.
The quarter final saw Wickham A play Maidenhead. The lads were still not playing their flowing football and at half time the game was still goalless. Down the slope Wickham dominated, with James not touching the ball but still no goals, so into extra time. With 30 seconds left in the first half William took a throw in which Karl flicked onto Albie who drilled the ball into the back of the net. There were no chances for either team in the second half, so for the third year running Wickham A had made it to the semi final of this tournament.
The talk before the game was if only they would pass the ball around and work for each other someone would get a hammering….and it came! Burnham did not know what had hit them. After a minute some good interplay between Jesse and Karl saw the ball go through to Charlie. He in turn sent Albie away and, as the keeper came out, neatly slotted the ball into the net. The next minute saw Karl break up an attack and send Albie away on the right. He knocked the ball across for a simple Charlie tap in. From the centre Wickham won a throw in which William sent to Karl. He gave it back to William who then sent it out to Albie. Again Albie got past his man and sent the cross in to Charlie to get in front of the keeper to score. Burnham never recovered from this and Wickham did not press for any more goals thus they were through to the final against Kennett Valley.
As you would probably expect in a final the first half was very cagy with James making a great save in the second minute. The second half saw Kennett Valley kick off but quickly concede a throw in. Jesse took this and the ball ended up with William just outside the Wickham area. He knocked the ball forward to Albie and as the defender came across gave the ball to Charlie for him to drill in. From the centre James had to make a save which William then cleared. A minute later Jesse took a quick throw in to Karl who turned and passed it to Albie. He took a touch to control the ball before hitting a shot across the keeper into the far left corner. Again, Kennett Valley attacked from the centre and won a free kick just outside the box but this flashed wide past the far post. In the final minute Jesse won the ball on the centre spot sending the ball out right. Albie drew the final defender before playing it back into Jesse’s path for him to complete the scoring. Wickham A had finally won their own tournament and without conceding a goal, which was a great achievement.
James Davies, William Herrington, Karl Admans, Jesse Bowers, Albie Oakman, Duncan Lorrain, Charlie de Fraine, Max Nichols.
Report by Ian Herrington
This entry was posted on 22-May-2007 at 07:42 pm and is filed under Under 11s (2006/2007). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
