Stalybridge Celtic Juniors Blues 2 – 2 Moston Brook
Goals: Joe, Josh
MoM: Thomas
The Blues had to make some last minute changes to their plans; with CJ already ruled out with illness, Jacob joined the ranks of those with the lurgy minutes before the match was about to start.
With such a defensive lynchpin missing it was a central defensive pairing of Josh and Fin that lined up in front of keeper Thomas, Matthew taking on midfield duties and Joe and Jack staring in the advanced positions with Holly keeping Chris company on the touchline.
A run and cross from Jack was put out for the first of two early corners as the Blues looked to take control in the first half. Joe looked to take quite a hefty knock as a result of some crunching tackles in the midfield area but he showed he’s made of stern stuff by sprinting back into action after a twenty second breather.
Josh had a minor rush of blood to the head when he tried a backpass that was never reaching Thomas but made up for it in fine style seconds later with a strong tackle on the edge of his area; the ball broke to Fin who went on a strong run before laying on a great pass to Jack who in turn laid it on to Joe who was unlucky not to get a clean shot on goal.
The game was excellent, in spite of the ever increasing blustery conditions. Matthew showed some outstanding awareness with his reading of the game in midfield, the Moston number 4 showed some fine touches whenever he was in possession of the ball and there was a lovely through ball from Josh that Jack just failed to reach.
A Moston corner was well defended by the Blues who then went up the other end to win one of their own which was drilled to the back post by Jack; Josh showed some quick feet to try to get an angle for a shot but the Moston defender persistently stuck to his task, twice blocking the path to goal.
The half ended with a fantastic and very brave last ditch tackle from Jack inside his own area to thwart a Moston attacker who was just about to pull the trigger. The Half Time score of 0-0 flattered Moston somewhat.
Whilst the team-talk was underway, Jacob strode manfully on to the pitch to let Chris know he wasn’t going to let flu-like symptoms/a minor sniffle* stop him from helping out his team [*depending on the father/son pre-match version you chose to listen to].
The second half got under way with Jacob on for Josh at the back with Jack also moving into a more defensive position to release Holly (on for Fin) as an attacker.
With the wind at their backs and their tails up, Moston started to exert some pressure. A couple of long range shots whistled past the upright and the bar in quick succession and it took some determined defending by Holly to stop a Moston corner resulting in a goal.
Despite the wind in his face, Thomas demonstrated that his kicking practice has been paying dividends with two huge kicks to clear his lines.
Jacob released Matthew up the line and after a spell of pinball, the ball broke to JOE at the back post who controlled it well before smashing it through the keepers legs into the back of the net for a !!GOAL!! to make it 1-0.
Spurred on by this goal, scored slightly against the run of play in fairness to Moston, the Blues pressed on for a second. A great turn by Holly resulted in a corner that was taken short to Joe, who had a shot that was well saved by the keeper.
There was some brilliant defensive covering from Matthew before two great saves in quick succession from Thomas protected the lead. Thomas had not been called upon much until this point and his excellent concentration was called upon again soon after to save a miscued clearance by Jacob that would have screwed just inside the post.
Holly was relishing the defensive shackles being off and her good run and through-ball to Joe set up a fine move: Joe played a nice little one-two with Jack before firing just wide.
Joe made way for Josh, who hadn’t been back on the pitch long before he doubled Celtic’s lead. Jack set off on a strong run from deep and fending off a strong presence from a defender, showed great awareness to spot Josh -who had been keeping pace with the fast break- in space wide on the right. JOSH met the fantastic pass with a first time shot that again careered through the keepers legs for a great !!GOAL!! to make it 2-0.
Fin came back on for Matthew. Even trailing by two goals, Moston’s heads did not drop and they showed they were by no means dead and buried. A quality run and a pin-point pass across the box that evaded all Celtic defenders ended up nestled in the back of Celtics net for a !Goal! to peg it back to 2-1.
Jack put in two huge tackles in midfield to keep them at bay and then from a really well struck Moston corner that was destined for the top corner, Thomas plucked the ball out of thin air. It was a stunning save that quite rightly tipped the balance in his favour to win him man of the match. However, such heroics could not stem the flow and the increasing Moston pressure was to eventually count. A speculative shot to the back post was diverted into the net in a last ditch attempt to clear off the line by an unlucky Blues defender for an unfortunate !Goal! to square the match at 2-2
The Blues went in search of a winner. A good run from Holly was then matched by one from Jack who was brought down midway into the Moston half. A free kick from a distance that would be too far for most, was taken by Jack who took a huge run up to attempt a Beckham-esq last ditch winner….. unfortunately the Moston wall held firm.
This was the last action of an excellent match between two committed, very good passing sides. Credit must go to both coaches whose sides put on a very fair, good tempered and thoroughly enjoyable, flowing football match.
Andy