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Rob Bellingham
Unicorn Platinum Reporter
United Kingdom
54 Posts |
 Posted - 05/10/2008 : 23:21:30
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Wizards Produce a Magic Performance
Woodhouse Park 3 Unicorn Wizards 8
After the experience of the last two weeks, this time it was the Wizards turn to come back from an early setback and produce a convincing victory against last seasons runners-up and cup winners.
The game couldn’t have started any worse from the Wizards point of view with Woodhouse Park taking the lead after little more than 20 seconds. From a Wizards kick off, Woodhouse Park picked the ball up in their own half and after some less than convincing Wizards defending, (think of a computer game when you accidentally send the player running away from the ball instead of towards it), created some space on the right to send a high ball over Barney’s head and into the net.
The Wizards took some time to get themselves organised and the lead could have been doubled when Woodhouse hit the post. Having ridden their luck, the Wizards began to gain a foothold in the match and equalised after 10 minutes. Joe did well to win the ball in midfield and played a great ball to Dan on the right who was brought down by a defender when he looked to have a chance for a clear run on goal. Brad stepped up to take the free-kick and lofted a powerful effort high into the net.
The Wizards thought they had taken the lead moments later with Dan playing James O through to finish well. An offside had been spotted by the referee, so the goal was disallowed.
The visitors did not have long to wait for their second goal, following another great piece of team play. Brad, as was so often the case this afternoon, was at the centre of things finding Dan wide on the right. Dan’s cross found Ross whose powerful shot was only parried by the home keeper. In true goal poaching style, James O was on hand to pick up the rebound and fired into the net.
With Woodhouse narrowly failing to equalise from a shot which was only inches wide, it was the Wizards who were next to find the net in a move which went from one end of the pitch to the other. Alex found Brad on the right, who simply brushed past the attempted shoulder charge from the Woodhouse defender. He picked out Dan in space who cut inside before picking out Tom with a low cross. Tom met the ball sweetly with the outside of his left boot and saw it curl perfectly away from the keepers despairing dive and into the bottom corner of the net.
A minute later, Woodhouse got back into the game with a goal which will have disappointed the Wizards defence to leave the half time score at 3 – 2. This was a similar scenario to last week, with the Wizards reaching half time with a single goal lead after conceding late in the first half. It would be an interesting test of the Wizards progress to see how they handled the situation after last weeks second half performance.
Half Time – Woodhouse Park 2 Wizards 3
The first significant action of the second half almost saw Woodhouse equalise, with Barney somehow managing to fall on the ball on his own goal line when, following a scramble in the box, it looked a certainty that the ball was going into the net. On such incidents can games turn and the Wizards wasted no time in trying to capitalise on this piece of good fortune.
Tom was close to adding the Wizards fourth and his second when he ran onto a through ball and hammered a shot against the post. The ball flew out to Dan whose first time effort thudded against the bar, when it looked to be heading for the roof of the net.
After 39 minutes the fourth goal did come, with a good move involving Ross and Brad. The ball found Dan in space in the box and he was able to take his time before making no mistake with his finish.
The Wizards were not quite ready to close the game down just yet and after 42 minutes allowed Woodhouse back into the game. Again the defending could have been better but in Barney’s defence he appeared to get stuck in the increasingly thick mud and was beaten to a rebound by the ongoing Woodhouse attacker. The pitch was only just playable and this probably accounts for a number of the less elegant pieces of play in conditions that must have been difficult for both teams.
Showing great character, the visitors were not in any mood to relinquish their lead and in the 47th minute restored their two goal cushion with probably the simplest of the day. Dan threw the ball into the box and Tom D’s effort gently meandered its way into the bottom corner out of the keeper’s reach.
A sixth was added when Dan’s run and cross was met first time by Brad for a great finish. A second disallowed effort followed when Tom found Dan who finished well. This looked distinctly unlucky as Dan seemed to have timed his run well but I guess its easy to get all the decisions right from the touchline.
Barney started off the move that led to the seventh goal with an accurate kick to George on the right wing. George found Dan who picked out Tom to complete a memorable hat-trick.
With time almost up, the Wizards put the icing on the cake when Dan passed to George, whose cross was headed in by Brad for a second Wizards hat-trick of the afternoon.
After two hard battles against the champions, the Wizards produced a memorable performance against another top team. Despite losing an early goal, the Wizards fought back hard showing some real determination to produce a performance which should give the players real confidence for the rest of the season.
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Date: 5 October 2008
Competition: Timperley and District Under 12 League Division 1
Wizards: Barney, Matt, Jake, Alex, James D, Tom D, Brad, Joe, Simon, George, Dan, Ross, James O
Goals: Brad (3), James O, Tom (3), Dan
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Men of the match: Brad and Dan – Two recent additions to the squad. Seemed to be everywhere on the pitch, giving the opponents real problems every time they were on the ball.
Moment of the match – The Wizards 3rd goal. An end to end move with passing, strength on the ball and a fine finish all in evidence.
Click Here for League Table: http://full-time.thefa.com/gen/Index.do?league=7712931
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Wizards v Woodhouse Park 5 October
