Broadstone U12 Colts 3-2 Longfleet Lions

This week saw us take on another team we hadn't played before and they were sitting a couple of places above us in the league table so we knew it had to be another strong performance. 
We started positively and had good spells of passing and moving up the pitch, however the game was different to the last couple of weeks, with Longfleet creating far more chances than us in the first half, and we had some great saves from George and some good defending to thank for the 0-0 score line with just under 20 minutes gone. We'd created a few good chances of our own, with Alfie being through on goal but being stopped by a good save and a couple of offsides. 
With 10 minutes left of the half we were finally broken down, when their striker was allowed to dribble past our defence far too easily and fire a shot past George. The lads showed a much better reaction to conceding this week, they didn't panic and instead continued to move the ball around well, and with a minute of the half to go we'd earned a throw in near the corner flag, which Dan took and made a good run towards the edge of the box to create a good angle for himself, Alfie played a clever 1-2 from the throw and Dan's shot looped over the keeper to give us a deserved equaliser. 
Unfortunately we couldn't hold on until half time, in a lengthy spell of added time our defenders were again shy on the tackle in the box and the opposition striker finished calmly to make the half time score 2-1 to them. 
We decided to change to a slightly more attacking formation for the second half, believing in our defensive organisation as they had prevented a lot of Longfleet chances and adding an extra man to the attack. 
This seemed to work brilliantly and 5 minutes into the half we were level again, a good shot from outside the box from Alfie came back off the bar which lead to pinball in the area before Dan stabbed it in from close range for his second of the game. 
The remainder of the second half was a good competitive match up, with neither team creating many clear cut chances. Both teams had good spells of possession in the middle of the pitch.
With just a minute of the game left Alfie went on a good driving run into the heart of Longfleet's defence and was brought down by a late tackle, whilst everyone else switched off waiting for the whistle, Josh was alert to the ref playing advantage and to the ball that had rolled into his path, he slotted the ball away calmly to give us the win. 
Man of the Match went to Josh for a brilliant performance in central midfield in the second half, breaking up a lot of Longfleet's attacks.
Another strong performance from the colts in what was a very close game between 2 well matched teams. The lads definitely deserved a win after their recent performances and hopefully we can keep this momentum going.