U8 MTYFC Robins v Westbury (Home) 23/02/2008

After last week’s six goal thriller that ended in a draw, expectations were high for today’s rematch against Westbury at home.  The pitch was damp and heavy but at least it was dry and not as cold as last week for players and spectators alike.

With Westbury fielding a majority of their ‘A’ team players Melksham got off to a good positive start and immediately started to test the Westbury defence. Ten minutes in , Kieren , Thomas and Haken linked well with Haken seeing his shot go inches wide passed the left hand post. The early pressure paid off when in the 12th minute Haken made an excellent pass to Thomas whose shot was deflected by one of the Westbury defenders into their goal making it 1-0 to Melksham.  A few minutes later and Haken make a great pass to Josh whose shot found the side netting. Melksham were awarded a free kick in the 15^th minute.  Josh struck the ball well and was heading for the top right corner of the goal, only to be stopped by a fabulous save from the Westbury keeper.  In the 19^th minute Westbury made a quick break and their player shot from distance, the thundering shot gave Nathan no chance of saving and levelled the match. Minutes later and Westbury had a corner. Nathan saved the corner slightly injuring himself.  Bravely continuing Nathan then made an excellent save with his legs  the ball came back in with Kieren heading clear to keep the scores level, going into half time.

Westbury started the second half well.  Elliot and Adam worked hard in defence keeping Westbury at bay.  Adam made a vital block of a hard shot destined for goal. Five minutes gone and Westbury’s pressure was rewarded with a goal. Melksham responded well and a couple of shots from Melksham hit the side netting causing premature celebrations from the home crowd. Melksham were awarded another free kick near goal. This time Josh’s shot was headed away by the brave Westbury defender. It was Westbury’s turn to attack and a hard shot directed into the top left corner of the Melksham goal gave Nathan no chance of saving.  In the 35th minute Melksham got one back from a corner, Josh drilling the ball into the area deflecting in off a Westbury player.  Now 2-3 the crowd were excited in what was another thrilling encounter. In the 37th minute one of the Westbury players made a fantastic solo run from his own half and scored in style to give Westbury a two goal lead with only minutes left to play. The Melksham players did not give up and their hard work was rewarded by a great goal from Josh in the final minute. The final score was 3-4 to Westbury.

To summarise, an exciting match enjoyed by players and spectators alike.  Well done Robins. As Bruce Forsyth on his 80^th Birthday would say –“Good game, good game”

Man of match - Elliot

Reporting from the touchline – Bryan Taylor

Message from the Manager

A big thanks to Wesbury's Manager, Players and Supporters.  I'm sure they'll agree we've seen two fantastic games of football, excellent goals scored and seen some very brave goalkeeping in both matches, from both teams Keepers, well done!