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.

This week in training we had again worked on passing the ball out from the back and short sharp passing moving up the pitch so it was brilliant to se the lads implementing this in the match. 

Unfortunately just 5 minutes into the game a powerful run from one of Wimborne's players saw him dodge 2 tackles and make his way into the box and finish well to put us 1-0 down early on. However rather than giving up on our short passing like last week it was brilliant to see that we continued this despite the set back and began creating some half chances. With 10 minutes left before half time a run down our left hand side from their midfielder drew our defence across leaving a man unmarked at the back post who finished calmly when the ball got played across. So half time and the score was a disappointing 2-0 and 5 minutes into the second half things didn't get any better, when we conceded a third as a result of going looking for some goals of our own. 
That was the only negative of our second half, what followed was easily the best I have ever seen the team play. The lads continued the short sharp passing play and really began to open up Wimborne's defence with excellent movement on and off of the ball. With 20 minutes left of the half to go this is where our goal came from. With Wimborne having just attacked George played the ball out to Tyler on the half way line who controlled it brilliantly. The speed we had moved the ball up field meant it was just Tyler and Joseph against 3 Wimborne defenders. Tyler played the ball to Joseph and then made a run through the middle of 2 of the defenders whilst Joseph waited until just the right moment to slot the ball through to Tyler who took 1 touch and finished brilliantly, completely showcasing the passing style we'd been working on. From this moment on in the game Wimborne only very occasionally made it out of their half and didn't really trouble George at all, whilst we forced several good saves from their keeper and played some more excellent football but we couldn't find the goals we needed. 
Having played so well but still losing I was expecting the players to be quite disappointed however I was very surprised that the first words out of George's mouth were 'that's the best we've played in ages' which was then echoed by several of the other lads. 
I was worried that by not getting the win for the second week after playing so well on the ball they would begin to doubt the passing style we were looking for but they all recognised how well they played and were clearly very pleased with how the game had gone despite the scoreline. If we continue to play in this way we are sure to win more games than we lose in the long term.
Man of the match went to Tiernan as he was very calm in playing the ball out from the back but also some excellent communication throughout the match which is what we lack at times so it was great to be able to hear it from the sidelines!

Broadstone U12 Colts 1-4 Melcombe Regis
The Colt's first game of this years league cup saw us again come up against a team we had never played before, but we did know they'd won their first league game 6-0 so it was we knew it was likely to be a difficult game. 
For the opening period of the game the teams looked fairly well balanced, with both teams creating half chances, however 90% of the time our attempts were stopped by an outstanding performance from Melcombe Regis' centre back. We only had 1 stand out chance of the half when Sam G did what we'd asked all the boys to do and take shots in and around the area. His shot came agonisingly close, it curled round nicely with a bit of help from the wind but hit the join of the crossbar and post and went out for a goal kick. At the other end of the pitch Melcombe Regis were finding their way through our defences far too easily, and had several shots on target before the 15 minute mark, only to be stopped from taking the lead by Dan who made some excellent saves in goal for us. With 10 minutes of the half to go the opposition striker found their way around Dan, finishing well meaning we went in at half time 1-0 down. 
The second half saw the weather conditions worsen and we ended up playing against very strong wind and rain as well as a strong team. Five minutes into the second half a player from the opposition took a strike from well outside the box, and Dan could do nothing but watch as the ball changed from heading into his far top corner and instead whipped across to his near top corner thanks to the wind. We started to keep the ball down a bit better and create a few chances, but didn't really test the keeper. Half way through the second half another long shot again went from one side of the goal to the other, with Dan doing well to get anywhere near it before it found its way into the top of the goal. With 10 minutes left we thought we may see another Broadstone Colts come back when Sam G found the bottom corner with a cleverly placed shot after hard work from Sam P around the edge of the box. However Melcombe Regis put the last nail in the coffin 2 minutes later with yet another high long shot. The final result was a 4-1 loss. 
Man of the match went to Dan who had a superb game and could do nothing about any of the goals we conceded. He made at least 5 brilliant saves particularly in the first half to ensure we still had a fighting chance going into the second. 
This was a disappointing game from a coaches point of view as we've always said that the result doesn't matter if everyone puts in 100% but it is the first time in 2 years that we couldn't say that we saw the top effort from all of the players.
We go again this Sunday against Poole Town Wessex United, a team we have done well against before so are looking forward to to seeing an improved performance.

Our first game saw us playing at home against a team we had never played before so we weren't sure what to expect. With 4 subs on the bench for our first game the message to the players was to give everything they had while they were on the pitch as there would be plenty of chances to have a rest and that's exactly what every one of them did. 
The players started well, passing the ball around quickly and creating a couple of half chances, however just after 5 minutes Verwood's striker found himself with the ball on the edge of our box and a rushed shot saw the ball float over George into the far top corner. After this Broadstone continued to have the majority of the ball, creating several good chances but lacking the composure in front of goal. As we approached the 20 minute mark Sam G made a good run down the touchline and did well to get his head up and cut the ball back to Jospeh who bent the ball superbly into the far corner of the net across the keeper, a much deserved equaliser. However just a minute or 2 later we switched off from our own goal kick as it found its way straight to an opposition striker just outside the box, whose shot skipped up off of the surface to beat George in goal. 5 minutes later the lads created another good opportunity, with Sam again being provider this time for the day's captain Alfie, who finished well from outside the box to again bring us level. We were unfortunate to not go into half time leading, with Kieran bringing an excellent save from the Verwood keeper a couple of minutes before the end of the half.
At half time the score was 2-2, with the Broadstone players feeling that they deserved to be infront, and so it was up to them to go out in the second half and prove that that was the case.
The half again started well, with the players moving the ball around well in ever-worsening conditions, however we couldn’t seem to find the final ball into our striker. With just 10 minutes left of the half Verwood won a free kick just outside of our box, George got finger tips to the shot but it wasn’t enough to keep it from finding the top corner. 
Yet again the Broadstone players showed their superb fighting attitude, and with 5 minutes left of the game they came from behind for the third time in the match when Kieran made a brilliant run down the wing from the edge of our box after receiving a short goal kick, all the way to just outside the opposition box, beating several players along the way. His pass inside found Alfie, who instead of shooting, spotted Sam P making a clever run into the box from the left hand side. His pass found Sam brilliantly who took 1 touch and slotted the ball past the keeper to make the score 3-3. The celebrations from the parents and the subs suggested they would’ve taken a draw after such a brilliant fight from the players, however the boys weren’t finished yet. With just 2 minutes of the game left Tyler managed to find a pass to Sam P in a crowded penalty area and Sam knocked the ball past the keeper to give the colts a much deserved first win of the season.
Man of the match went to Alfie. In the first half he played as a lone striker and held the ball up superbly, bringing midfielders into play and then looking to receive the ball again himself, even causing the opposition to attempt a man marking set up to keep him out of the game to no avail. He had 15 minutes off after half time and then came back on in a central midfield role and again linked everything together very well.
We made it very difficult for ourselves at times during the match, but the player’s attitude and work rate can’t be questioned and long may it continue through the season!