Under 13's. Tameside & District League. Division 1.
Home v Hollinwood Athletic

  Result - Reddish North End 2 Hollinwood Athletic 1

Match Report: James Emmerson

A very pleasing first league win of the season for the team today. Another hopeless weather forecast – fog and icy conditions were predicted – meant that we played for the first time in three weeks on a very bright and clear, but cold morning.

In truth it was not a great match to watch – Reddish certainly weren’t at their best, and made hard work of stringing passes together. We had opportunities but didn’t really test the Hollinwood goalie, while defensively we looked a bit slack and almost got caught out once or twice. But as it was, Reddish got in front after good work from Sam saw him follow in and head home after the ball had come back off the bar. However, straight from the kick off we might as well have waved the Hollinwood forward through, as he darted past several weak ‘tackles’ and poked home for 1-1.

At half time we talked about working harder and showing a lot more determination to win the ball, and we certainly improved in this regard in the second half. Daniel L whizzed a shot narrowly wide and Sam had another headed chance which went over. Then, frustratingly we wasted two great opportunities where a simple pass would have put us clean through, but players opted to try and dribble through themselves.

We almost paid a heavy price when Hollinwood broke clear and the on-rushing player lobbed the ball over Callum W. With another Hollinwood player free in the box and just waiting for the ball to come down to tap it in, disaster loomed, but thankfully Chris showed fantastic desire and bravely got there first to poke the ball wide for a corner! Brilliant defending.

With five minutes to go Mark won the ball in midfield and capped a fine performance with a simple, effective pass to Callum, who swivelled in the box before finishing very coolly. At last! This time the boys kept focussed and saw the game out for a well deserved three points.

I was personally deeply satisfied to erase the memory of some difficult games against Hollinwood at U11’s level (the last time we played each other), and pleased for the boys, who worked hard for this. But I know that we will need to pass the ball much better in the weeks ahead, whilst maintaining the second half’s commitment and work rate.

Next week we are due to play Delamere Rangers in a league match.

Scorers : Sam (1) Callum B (1)

Man of the match : Sam (opposition manager’s choice). Mark (My choice)