Under 12's. Home v Denton Youth

  Result - Reddish North End 1 Denton Youth 2

A real shock to the system today as the boys superb winning streak came to an end in unexpected circumstances, as bottom club Denton held on to record only their second win of the season. However, they needed almost a season’s worth of good fortune and a performance of the season from their goalie to preserve their advantage, as Reddish dominated large parts of the game, playing the second period almost totally in the Denton half.

The boys paid the price for a slack start and two uncharacteristic defensive errors gave Denton a two goal lead midway through the first half. Their second goal, when we somehow left three Denton players unmarked in the box, was an absolute shocker from my perspective, and Reddish were clearly upset by such unusually poor play. There were some cross words exchanged between the boys and one or two heads went down a bit, which was not pleasing, certainly not the response we needed.

But we play as a team, and several players can point to things they could have done better to prevent giving our opponents such gifts. Certainly the complacency some of the boys had towards the game went out of the window, as Denton’s recent signings clearly gave them a bit of clout, and we concentrated much harder from that point.

I can assure you it is not bias on my part when I say that Reddish could have had three or four goals before the interval and at least the same amount afterwards. We created any number of chances but shots flashed wide, got blocked or scrambled away, and the Denton goalie also clung on to a couple of goal bound efforts. So it was a frustrating half in many ways, but a good test of attitude and character. And to be sure it was difficult to fault the second half effort, when we had probably 75% possession and at least a dozen shots on target.

Callum B managed to get us back into the game with a scrambled finish and we had plenty of time to score more, but it was one of those games when everything got blocked or the keeper managed to clear the ball away. The Denton defence also did overtime and got some crucial tackles in to deny Sam and Jamie. Michael stopped when he was clipped in the box, expecting a penalty, instead of rushing on towards the goal. Right at the end Sam hit a shot from 25 yards which went over the keeper but crashed against the bar – Jamie followed up with a header which the keeper just got clear, and the on-rushing Callum was denied by a last ditch tackle which took the ball off his toes.

So a great disappointment in the end, the boys were naturally upset to have lost. However, these things must be kept in perspective, and one defeat does not change the fact that we still have our destiny in our own hands. We have three league games left and two wins will secure us second spot – unless North Manchester beat Clayton Villa, in which case we will need to win all three. It is also a useful thing, as I’m sure the boys will not want to feel like this again, and it’s a reminder to them of what they need to do. Just because we have played so well week after week, we can’t just turn up and expect to win no matter who the opposition is.

I congratulated the Denton players and management team afterwards. They were understandably elated after a surprise win and the manager admitted to me he had no idea how we only scored once. But credit to Denton, who never stopped working – they have had an awful season in terms of results and it is hard to deny them a bit of joy at last. I can remember the feeling from last season and we must give credit where it is due. Denton are certainly not the worst team in our Division, they are a decent set of people who have stayed committed to their children despite continual defeats. We wish them well for the remainder of the season.

So not the ideal preparation for our cup semi-final against Wythenshawe next weekend, but we are where we are, and hopefully the boys will learn from the experience and produce an hour of real determined teamwork to do themselves justice.

Scorers : Callun B (1)

Man of the match : Mark