Thame Boys U16s rally in the second half (again!!)

Wellington College was the venue for the Boys U16's second match of the year against a team currently sitting to the top of the league in South Berkshire. The game started at midday after both teams joined in the centre of the pitch to honour those on Armistice Day with a minute's silence.

After an awful lot of hard work behind the scenes we somehow managed to field ten U16 players of the match and the opposition team manager agreed that Thame's numbers would be bolstered by a couple of players from the home team. The first half began with Thame looking uncomfortable in possession and after a lacklustre start a goal was gifted to the opposition. Unfortunately, due to the distance between the venue and Thame, we were not able to warm up as a team prior to the match starting, as a few of the players only arrived as the match was about to start. This lack of readiness was evident in the first 20 minutes, but eventually the team started to play better; unfortunately they were already 4 goals down! Will V. picked up a knock towards the end of the first half, forcing him to leave the pitch of the rest of the game.

The half time team talk focussed on doing the simple things well: putting pace on the pass, passing into space or to a player and to keep the shape of the team. To their credit, the boys started the second half like a team reborn! The energy levels were good and the team spirit was excellent; at no times did heads drop or voices rise (well not very loudly anyway!) and the team began to get a foothold into the game. The defence played with strength and determination: Elliot lead the team with enthusiasm from the back, supported ably by Lawrence and David. The back 3 were solid for most of the game and worked tirelessly repelling wave upon wave of attacks. We were grateful to Oscar (from Aylesbury HC) that he was available to play in goal, and he did a fine job, making some vital saves.

The midfield was supplemented by a different opposition player in the second half and he, Justin, was asked to distribute the ball from the centre of the pitch. This made a big difference to the way the team worked in the second half and is something that we will look at working on in the upcoming few weeks. Justin worked well with Hal in the midfield, freeing up a series of goal chances, of which one was finally converted, by Ollie L. making the score 4-1, but more importantly out us ahead in that half of the game. Despite losing a couple of goals towards the end of the 70 minutes, the boys can reflect on a much improved second half, in both application and work rate. Louis ran his socks off (as usual) finding room out on the flanks and Sam T. proved his pace and stamina in harrying the opposition as they tried to play out from the back.

As manager, I left the game happy in the turnaround that I witnesses from the sidelines between the two halves: it is now unto the boys to start the next game as they finished this one, well mentally at least and to think about how they can improve on their individual contribution to the collective effort.

The Man of the Match award was won by Hal, with a number of the other players close behind him in their effort and application.

I am really looking forward to next Sunday to see how the boys take the lessons identified today into the next match. Well played all.

Nathan
Manager and provider of cake.