The game started with Northway pushing forwards and they seemed to be in the Wickham half for two minutes but a big clearance sent Ben racing away. The keeper came out but his kick only found Luke whose shot just cleared the bar. Northway were the dominant force in the first 20 minutes but Wickham were more than holding there own but they were struggling on the ball through the middle. However, there always seemed to be someone there able to tidy up. In the 20th minute Wickham won their first corner. Ollie hit it into the box and as the defender tried to clear the ball he ended up punching it so a penalty was awarded. Fraser stepped up and hit a powerful shot to the keepers left and into the net. The balance of the half was quite even with both sides having one more corner. Wickham defended the Northway one quite well but Wickham were unlucky not to score from theirs as the ball came flying off the bar, but a 1-0 lead was a great first half performance. The midfield were asked to work together getting the ball down and not to resort to Northway’s tactic of hitting the ball over the top.
Jordie was pulled off with Max moving into the middle and Alex going onto the right. The first real chance fell to Wickham after 5 minute. Fraser picked up the ball in his own half and went off down the left wing going past 3 defenders. He got his cross into the box but unfortunately it was just behind Ben, Ollie and Alex so the chance was lost. Northway were constantly getting themselves caught off side as they continued to play the ball over the top. In the 8th minute from another Ollie corner the Northway defender again handled the ball whilst attempting to clear it
giving Wickham their second penalty. This time Fraser tucked the ball away nicely just inside the keeper’s right hand post but then the ref ordered the kick to be taken again because of Wickham players being in the area. He seemed to be the only one who saw this! This second time Fraser hit the top of the cross bar with three Northway defenders in the box but surprise, surprise the kick was not ordered to be taken again. This deflated the Wickham lads and in contrast boosted the Northway boys. Northway were still getting caught offside but in the 15th minute the ref over ruled the linesman as the Northway forward came back from an off side position to gather in the ball and then turned to run at goal. The Wickham defenders stopped, as did the Northway forward but as he realised no whistle had gone he rounded James to put the ball into the back of the net. With 18 minute gone Wickham made another change to chase the game. Fraser moved up front instead of Ben, Declan came on at right back with Aiden switching to left and Tom moving into the midfield. This almost paid immediate dividends as Wickham played a ball over the top; Max got to the ball first heading it over the keeper, before being flattened, and into the back of the net, but he was given off side. Max needed to come off so Jordie replaced him. With 23 minute gone Northway hit the standard ball over the top to an off side player which was duly flagged for but again the ref ignored the flag allowing Northway to take the lead. Straight from the centre Wickham attacked down the right. Alex got a great cross in but unfortunately the ball hit Luke and went flying over the bar. In the 27th minute the Northway forward again went through from an off side position but this time James made a great save with Declan clearing the ball off the line for a corner. We were now wondering why the ref was even bothering with a linesman! The corner however was a beautiful one to the back post which was powerfully headed in. From the centre Northway won the ball back went down the right and got the cross in which somehow ended up in the back of the net. The game went on for another 10 minutes after this which was absolutely incredible. The lads never let their heads drop which given the circumstances was brilliant.
The Player of the Day was quite an easy one for the parents this week and went to Fraser, who was a constant threat down the left wing all game and he did put away two nice penalties...….but that’s another story.
Aiden Weeks, Jordan Shaw, Jack Wild, Tom Farmer,
Max Nicholls, Ollie Norman, Jordie Rowlands Luke Evans, Fraser Roberts.
Ben Cipolla
Subs:- Declan Hess, Stephen Enever, Harry Russell, Alex Olford.
