|
|
|
|
| U17 Colts Season 2009-10 |
Saturday 12 th December 2009
MK Wanderers 6 v 4 Highgate United
MK Wanderers welcomed Highgate United to Kents Hill in the third round of games in the cup competition.
On a calm morning, but with a heavy pitch to contend with both teams looked to play their football on the ground and it was the home side that took the lead on 10 minutes, some great interplay between Ryan Coyle and Jason Cohen saw Curran slot home from Ryan's cross to make it 1 - 0. With Wanderers attack minded formation, they were frequently able to find space behind the Highgate defence, but some resolute tackling from Jack Florence in Highgate's defence stopped Wanderers, but on 20 minutes, Pius beat the offside trap, raced clear and slotted home to make it 2 - 0. Highgate continued to play their football and were pressing deep in to Wanderers final third, when Darryl Wilson broke up play and released Pius again with a cracking pass, Pius again outpaced the defence and coolly slotted home to make it 3 - 0 on 22 minutes, but within a couple of minutes Highgate showed some good football of their own to win a free kick to the right of the area. The resultant effort thumped back off the cross bar and Declan McKeon was on hand to head home to make it 3 - 1. This gave Highgate a big lift and on 28 minutes a corner was only cleared to the edge of the Wanderers box and Andrew Kenny hit the sweetest of shot's in to the bottom right corner to make it 3 - 2 and game on. Wanderers, worked hard for next couple of minutes to press Highgate and regain their own composure and this told, a fantastic passage of play saw Jason, play wide to Sam Slatter, Sam crossed in to Curran who in turn laid it off to Derrick and Derrick slotted home to make it 2 - 4. Within a minutes Wanderers again took a three goal lead when Pius wrapped up his hatrick, Sam Slatter played the ball in to Curran, he crossed and Pius met the ball to hit home and give Wanderers a 5 - 2 half time lead.
The second half saw Highgate come out really pumping and Wanderers looked flat. Influential centre back Matt Hayes had to retire from the game and Sam Slatter dropped to Centre back with Colm Rooney on at right back. This change in formation allowed Highgate to apply some extended pressure on Wanderers, the ball was to frequently poorly cleared and on 60 minutes, a corner from the left was bundled in by Oliver Stratham to make it 5 – 3, then on 65 minutes it was 5 – 4, with Stephen Rigby getting g in on the act to slot home. Highgate could sense that they could get something from the game by now and were throwing the kitchen sink at the Wanderers, but on 70 minutes the game was made safe, some great work from Darryl Wilson saw him pressure a back pass to the keeper, use his strength to get in front of the keeper and win the ball and then slot home to make it 6 – 4, a lead Wanderers then defended to the final whistle. This was a terrific game of football with both teams giving their all and every tackle contested strongly but fairly. MK Wanderers wish Mike and his team all the best for Christmas and look forward to seeing them again in the New Year. |
Saturday 28th November 2009
Wednesfield 5 v 5 MK Wanderers
MK Wanderers were back in cup action in the group games and playing Division 1 side Wednesfield who had given the Wanderers a proper good hiding in their first game 7 – 1 so it was with interest that Jackie and Simon waited to see how the boys would react.
Within 5 minutes Wednesfield took the lead, a free kick saw the ball break to Mark Potts and his shot took a deflection off of Matt Hayes to beat Sam Jay in goal and make it 1 – 0 to Wednesfield and it wasn't the start Jackie wanted. However, rather than capitulate, the Wanderers picked themselves up and upped their work rate, on 20 minutes Pius found himself in on goal but his shot was straight at the keeper, on 22 minutes a free kick in to the box saw Stephane Kemoagna adjudged to have fouled the keeper and on 24 minutes, Andy Gray saw his shot just miss from outside the area, but Wanderers were now seeing a lot of the ball. Wednesfield again showed their class, Mark Potts had an effort go over the bar and they also missed with a header on 38 minutes, but with the pace of Pius and Stephane up front, Wanderers always looked dangerous and on 41 minutes they were level, Steph linked well with Pius, Pius playing him through and Steph slotted the ball in to the bottom left of the goal to make it 1 – 1. Wanderers then took the lead within a minute, Steph this time the provider after a ball from Andy Gray, with Steph playing the ball across goal for Pius to tap in 1 – 2 at half time.
A reshuffle at half time saw Colm Rooney replaced Charlie Fisher on the wing and the Wanderers came out full of enthusiasm and effort and within 3 minutes of the restart they increased their lead, Will right at left back played the ball in to the channel for Pius to pick up and this time Pius provided for Stephane with a great cut back and Steph thumped the ball home 1 – 3, on 55 minutes three became four when Pius raced through the defence again to slot the ball home 1 – 4. With the pitch playing heavy and with Charlie not able to return to the game so no substitutes available, Wanderers were finding the going tough now and had to dig deep to keep Wednesfield out, Matt Hayes and Ryan Coyle at centre backs were having solid games as were Will and Sam Oxley at fullbacks, but Wednesfield were now seeing a lot of the ball themselves and only a good save from Sam in goal keep the score line the same, he was again called in to action in the 68 minute but his save fell to the feet of Mitchell Roberts and he slotted home to make it 2 – 4. Mark Potts then came close to grabbing his second but he was also denied by a great save from Sam on 75 minutes and it seemed one way traffic at the moment, eventually the pressure told and on 79 minutes Mark Potts grabbed his second low to the right of goal. Wednesfield were sniffing a draw at worst now, but Steph picked the ball up on the half way line to race clear, round the keeper and tap in to make it 5 – 3 on 84 minutes and surely the Wanderers had done enough for the win. Wednesfield had by now swapped both their wide players and with Wanderers really tiring now, a cross from out wide was sent over and as Sam came to clear, the ball was headed over him for Mark Potts to wrap up his hatrick and then with less than a minute left another save from Sam fell kindly for Wednesfield and Mark Potts grabbed his fourth and his team equaliser to make it 5 – 5. However that wasn't the end and Steph could have grabbed a dramatic equaliser in the last minute of extra time, however the Wednesfield keeper managed to smoother the ball to deny him. So in the end a dramatic and somewhat disappointing draw, but if that had been offered a fortnight ago, the team would have snapped hands off.
Man of the match went to Pius Ofori, with Stephane Kemoagna getting the silver award and Ryan Coyle the bronze. |
Saturday 21st November
Wednesfield 5 v 5 MK Wanderers
MK Wanderers were back in cup action in the group games and playing Division 1 side Wednesfield who had given the Wanderers a proper good hiding in their first game 7 – 1 so it was with interest that Jackie and Simon waited to see how the boys would react.
Within 5 minutes Wednesfield took the lead, a free kick saw the ball break to Mark Potts and his shot took a deflection off of Matt Hayes to beat Sam Jay in goal and make it 1 – 0 to Wednesfield and it wasn't the start Jackie wanted. However, rather than capitulate, the Wanderers picked themselves up and upped their work rate, on 20 minutes Pius found himself in on goal but his shot was straight at the keeper, on 22 minutes a free kick in to the box saw Stephane Kemoagna adjudged to have fouled the keeper and on 24 minutes, Andy Gray saw his shot just miss from outside the area, but Wanderers were now seeing a lot of the ball. Wednesfield again showed their class, Mark Potts had an effort go over the bar and they also missed with a header on 38 minutes, but with the pace of Pius and Stephane up front, Wanderers always looked dangerous and on 41 minutes they were level, Steph linked well with Pius, Pius playing him through and Steph slotted the ball in to the bottom left of the goal to make it 1 – 1. Wanderers then took the lead within a minute, Steph this time the provider after a ball from Andy Gray, with Steph playing the ball across goal for Pius to tap in 1 – 2 at half time.
A reshuffle at half time saw Colm Rooney replaced Charlie Fisher on the wing and the Wanderers came out full of enthusiasm and effort and within 3 minutes of the restart they increased their lead, Will right at left back played the ball in to the channel for Pius to pick up and this time Pius provided for Stephane with a great cut back and Steph thumped the ball home 1 – 3, on 55 minutes three became four when Pius raced through the defence again to slot the ball home 1 – 4. With the pitch playing heavy and with Charlie not able to return to the game so no substitutes available, Wanderers were finding the going tough now and had to dig deep to keep Wednesfield out, Matt Hayes and Ryan Coyle at centre backs were having solid games as were Will and Sam Oxley at fullbacks, but Wednesfield were now seeing a lot of the ball themselves and only a good save from Sam in goal keep the score line the same, he was again called in to action in the 68 minute but his save fell to the feet of Mitchell Roberts and he slotted home to make it 2 – 4. Mark Potts then came close to grabbing his second but he was also denied by a great save from Sam on 75 minutes and it seemed one way traffic at the moment, eventually the pressure told and on 79 minutes Mark Potts grabbed his second low to the right of goal. Wednesfield were sniffing a draw at worst now, but Steph picked the ball up on the half way line to race clear, round the keeper and tap in to make it 5 – 3 on 84 minutes and surely the Wanderers had done enough for the win. Wednesfield had by now swapped both their wide players and with Wanderers really tiring now, a cross from out wide was sent over and as Sam came to clear, the ball was headed over him for Mark Potts to wrap up his hatrick and then with less than a minute left another save from Sam fell kindly for Wednesfield and Mark Potts grabbed his fourth and his team equaliser to make it 5 – 5. However that wasn't the end and Steph could have grabbed a dramatic equaliser in the last minute of extra time, however the Wednesfield keeper managed to smoother the ball to deny him. So in the end a dramatic and somewhat disappointing draw, but if that had been offered a fortnight ago, the team would have snapped hands off.
Man of the match went to Pius Ofori, with Stephane Kemoagna getting the silver award and Ryan Coyle the bronze. |
Saturday 31st October 2009
Romulus 3 v 3 MK Wanderers
Having graded in to Division 2 after the regional qualifying games, MK Wanderer's found themselves in the same Division as both of their grading competitors, Romulus and Welbeck, along with Nuneaton Town, Stroud and Tipton from Dudley. The first league game saw Wanderers travel back to Romulus.
In the last meeting, Romulus took an early 3 – 0 lead, but this time round Wanderers were in no mood to give up such a lead and Romulus were contained to some shot's outside the area. Debutant Andy Gray partnered Ryan Coyle in midfield with Ben Shepherd and Derrick MacDonald on the flanks and whenever possible the ball was played wide and both Ben and Derrick saw a lot of the early ball, on 16 minutes this tactic paid off when Ben made a great run and fed Pius Ofori who in turn fed his strike partner Stephane Kemoagna who slotted home to make it 0 – 1 to the Wanderers. Stephane and Pius's pace up front was causing the Romulus defence all manner of problems and frequently both players were challenged hard and late to stop their runs, this proved to be the case on 28 minutes when Stephane was brought down in the box and Andy Gray stepped up to slot home the penalty 0 – 2. Romulus were really up against it now but they soon showed some class of their own when a free kick was sent in to the box and only cleared to the edge of the area where Liam Kelly was on hand to slot home shot making it 1 – 2 on 33 minutes. Almost from the kick-off the turning point of the game occurred, another bad foul from behind was made on Stephane followed by some very unsavoury comments that the respect campaign is trying to rid from the game and Stephane lost his head and forcefully shoved the culprit in the back. Neither the referee of his assistant claimed to hear the comments and Steph was sent from the pitch. Wanderers held out for the remaining 10 minutes of the half with 10 men and took a well earned 2 – 1 lead in to half time.
A reshaping of the team saw Pius play up front on his own, with Collum Rooney coming on to replace Andy and Tom Thornton came on to replace Derrick on the left wing. Romulus now really had the bit between their teeth and came out all guns blazing and on two minutes Liam Kelly hit a cracking shot and was already jumping in the air to celebrate when Sam Jay in goal pulled off an incredible save to tip the ball on to the cross bar where Will Smith was on hand to clear the rebound. This spurred the Wanderers on and Tom was unlucky not to get his name on the score sheet when he turned his marker inside and out, but his left footed shot crept wide. On 10 minutes though it was the 10 men of Wanderers that increased their lead, Ben Shepherd made another telling run up the right, cut inside and cracked home his shot which caught the post and went in off the head of the helpless Romulus keeper. Wanderers seemed to relax at this point and yet again let Romulus back in to the game, another free kick was punched clear by Sam in goal, but it fell to Galel Saeed again on the edge of the box and he slotted home to make it 2 – 3 with 58 minutes gone. Romulus now threw everything they had at the Wanderers but some fantastic defending by Captain Dan Hassell and Matt Hayes in the centre of defence and Sam Oxley and Will Wright at full backs denied them time and again and with every player working hard to make up for the missing player, Wanderers held out until the 82 minutes before a slip allowed David Takyi to get behind the defence and his rifled shot hit the roof of the net to make it 3 – 3. Even still the Wanderers kept pushing for the win and both Tom and Pius brought good saves out of Lewis Exall in the Romulus goal and in the end the game finished 3 – 3.
Man of the match went to Pius Ofori for another great display up front and to Lewis Kelly of Romulus for his performance in midfield. Next week sees the team at home in the group stages of the cup against first division side Wednesfield. |
Saturday 10th October 2009
Heath Hayes 5 V MK Wanderers 4
What a difference a week can make. Last week saw MK Wanderers beat Heath Hayes 4 – 3 in blustery conditions, this week, the weather was perfect and pitch perfectly manicured, so how would the Wanderers play on their travels again?
It has to be said that to date, when playing away, the Wanderers have started slowly and today was no different. Too much ball was well won and then given away cheaply, too many touches taken allowing the opposition to close them down and three sloppy goals conceded within 24 minutes to almost seal the game for Heath Hayes. Of these, none were classic goals, the first was a handling error from Sam Jay in goal, the second poor defending at the near post to allow a headed goal and the third, poor defending in the box and failed clearances to allow a shot that should never have been allowed. To their credit, the lads didn’t give up and when they finally started to awaken they played some great football which finally ended up with a goal, a good run from Stephane Kemoagna saw him find Pius Ofori in side and Pius played across goal for Curran Sagoo to slot home on 45 minutes, so the half ended with us 3 – 1 down.
A feisty team talk lifted the team and in the second half we were much more like the Wanderers normally are, working hard and playing good football. For the first 10 minutes of the second half it was all Wanderers, with some chances created but not finished and then the sucker punch. From Heath's first corner in the second half the ball broke to David Leese on the edge of the area and he drilled his shot in to the bottom right corner to make it 4 – 1. Heath then got their 5th from the next corner, with a header but some outrageous shirt pulling from a Heath player on Sam in goal stopped him dead in his tracks from claiming the ball and how neither the referee or assistant saw it was beyond everyone so on 60 minutes it was 5 – 1. The Wanderers could have just given up then, but instead they got fired up. Within a minute some good work by Ryan Coyle, saw him play in Will Wright who slammed home his shot to make it 5 – 2. Pius then added the third after more good work from Ryan to make it 5 – 3 on 64 minutes and Curran Sagoo then netted on 67 minutes after some great work from Jason Cohen out wide to make it 5 – 4. Heath's were really under the cosh now and defending deeper and deeper to stop the pace of Stephane, Pius, Derrick and Curran undoing them. Stephane could have equalised but his shot went over, Pius was bundled to the ground just inside the penalty area but the shout was turned down, Stephane was also tripped in the area but kept his feet when he should have gone down and the penalty was turned down and it was all Wanderers. However Heath absorbed all of this and hung on, when they could they broke quickly and only a great save by Sam in goal denied them their sixth and in the end time ran out for Wanderers and they lost by the odd goal.
Man of the Match went to Pius Ofori for his effort and skill upfront, with Will Wright and Charlie Fisher picking up the oppositions silver and bronze awards.
Now that the grading games are finished Wanderers have secured a place in Division 2 at worst and if the league go for a two league system, Wanderers should have done enough to put themselves in Division 1. |
Saturday 3rd October 2009
MK Wanderers 4 v 3 Heath Hayes
The weather forecast had predicted some strong winds in the afternoon of the game, but unfortunately the wind decided to start blowing from before the kick-off and ended up making this a real game of 2 halves.
The first half saw MK Wanderers with the wind at their backs and they looked to pin Heath Hayes in their own half. To their credit both teams knew they had to keep the ball on the deck and for Heath Hayes Daniel Scragg was at the heart of their play, linking well with his strike partners. Stout defending from the back four of Sam Oxley, Matt Hayes, Dan Hassell and debutant Will Wright kept Heath Hayes at bay and whenever possible, the Wanderers looked to use the elements to work their way downfield. Curran Sagoo was a real nusceance on the right wing as was Derrick MacDonald on the left and eventually this pressure told on 26 minutes, a great piece of control and a spin from Stephane Kemoagna saw him release to Pius Ofori and Pius beat the defender and slotted home his shot 1 - 0. Captain Dan Hassell then got his name on the score sheet with a long range effort, the elements causing the ball to move and beating David Leese in goal, 2 - 0 on 30 minutes. Two minutes later some more pressure lead to a Wanderers corner, Charlie Fisher delivered a great cross and Curran Saggoo was on hand to net the third, the scoring for the half was wrapped up by Will Wright whose free kick from the right of the penalty area found the left hand corner despite a great attempted save by David on 42 minutes.
The second half saw Heath Hayes with the elements in their favour but some stout defending by the Wanderers and a couple of good saves by Sam Jay in goal kept the score line the same until the 30th minute. The constant pressure and difficulty in working the ball up field eventually told and Aaron Stubbs was on hand to net his and Heath Hayes first goal 4 - 1. Heath Hayes continued to press and this left them open to the counter attack, two great saves by Hayden Nash who had replaced David in goal stopped the Wanderers from increasing their lead and this gave Heath Hayes a great boost. Aaron grabbed his second on 37 minutes from a corner and Heath Hayes knew they had a real chance of getting something from the game. With time running out, only a great save by Sam Jay denied Heaths again on 43 minutes but then with 4 minutes of extra time played Aaron completed his hatrick to make it 4 - 3. Still there was time for an equaliser but finally after a second half of 58 minutes, the final whistle was blown giving Wanderers a close 4 - 3 win. Hopefully next week the wind will stay away and both of these teams can play the type of football both showed they are capable of. |
Saturday 26th September 2009
Romulus 4 v 4 MK Wanderers
After last weeks disappointing loss to Romulus at home, the boys travelled up to Sutton Coldfield looking to overturn the result in their final grading game of the group. With Welbeck having beaten Romulus during the week, a win would guarantee the Wanderers top spot in the group and a draw second place.
From the off, it was clear that Romulus were very much up for the game and that the Wanderers were still trying to get the journey out of their legs and so this proved to be the case when on 2 minutes Romulus took the lead, poor defensive clearances saw Josh Simpson slot the ball home to make it 1 – 0 to the home team. Wanderers started to show patches of what they could do and on 17 minutes a Charlie Fisher cross was met by Pius Ofori whose shot was blocked, but Ryan Coyle was on hand to thump home the ball and make it 1 – 1. This should have been the spur that the Wanderers needed but on 23 minutes they had the stuffing knocked out of them when Romulus scored their second with what looked like an offside finish from Scott Reynolds and the situation was then made worse less than two minutes later when Simpson added his second with a good headed finish from a Galal Saeed cross. The Wanderers could have let their heads drop at this point but a positional change saw Charlie Fisher swap in to the centre of midfield and Pius was pushed up front to partner Curran Sagoo and the team looked like they had more balance. Charlie's work rate saw him disrupt the Romulus possession in midfield and the Wanderers looked more dangerous. The half looked to be ending without any further scores but Dan Hassell then produced a wonderful finish, placing the ball in the top right corner of the Romulus goal from the left touchline and the Wanderers were right back in the game at 3 – 2.
A serious team-talk at half time had the Wanderers fired up for the start of the second half and from the off they looked to press Romulus. On 12 minutes only a great save denied Matt Hayes's header from a Dan cross, but on 15 minutes Pius made a great dribbling run to get clear of the defence and slot home to make it 3 – 3. Both teams were now attacking at every opportunity and it was only stout defending from both sides that kept the score line level. Curran Saggoo who had now swapped to the right wing was having a fantastic second half and on a couple of occasions he was denied by last ditch defending and a great save respectively. Sam Jay in the Wanderers goal was also called on to make a great save on 80 minutes himself and the game looked destined for a draw. Last week at pretty much the same point, Romulus snatched a late winner and on 81 minutes they looked to have done the same again, a shot from Matthew O'Beirne clipped the top of a Wanderers defenders head and looped over Sam in goal to make it 4 – 3 and you could see from Romulus's celebrations how much it meant to them. To their credit, Wanderers never gave up and with less than two minutes left some great work down the right saw Curran send in a cross that was partially cleared but Ryan put his body on the line and bundled home the equaliser. Still the excitement wasn't over and the Wanderers with their tails up looked for the winner, Pius again made a great run and only a fantastic save in injury time from Josh Simpson who had replaced Reece Crowton in goal kept the score line equal.
This was another great game of football which guarantees the Wanderers a minimum second place finish, if Welbeck and Romulus were to draw, then Wanderers would finish top on goal difference. Man of the match went to Pius Ofori for another great display up front and to Galal Saeed of Romulus for his performance out wide. |
Saturday 19th September 2009
MK Wanderers 2 v 3 Romulus
After picking up 4 points from their opening two games, the MK Wanderers Youth team were looking to consolidate their position in the grading group table, this week they were up against Romulus of Sutton Coldfield, who as a club can boast Gareth Barry, Darius Vassell and Zat Knight as former youth team players.
In a tight first half, Romulus worked hard to impose themselves on the Wanderers team and playing a 4 - 5 - 1 formation, their extra man in midfield meant they saw a fair bit of the ball. Sean Ellis in particular was a commanding presence and his strength in the air and on the ground made him the stand out player for Romulus in the first half. This pressure finally told when on 28 minutes a through ball found Scott Reynolds clear of the defence who hesitated looking for the offside flag and a scruffy finish beat Sam Jay in goal to make it 0 - 1 to Romulus.
The second half saw both teams come out fighting and on 9 minutes the first effort of the half went to Romulus, but the shot cleared the cross bar. Wanderers now looked to match the opposition in terms of strength and commitment and slowly they dragged themselves back in to the game with some good attacking play, Pius Ofori scored from a Jason Cohen corner to make it 1 - 1 on 58 minutes and Sam Slatter saw his effort just go wide on 60 minutes, however Romulus showed how dangerous they could be and on their next visit up field they retook the lead with another goal from Scott Reynolds. The Wanderers didn't let their heads drop and they drew level again on 65 minutes when Pius latched on to a Ryan Coyle ball and slotted home from the edge of the area to make it 2 - 2. A minute later and another corner for Wanderers saw Matt Hayes head over the bar and it was now end to end stuff, however it was Romulus who struck the killer punch, David Takyi scored with a sublime shot in to the top right corner on 84 minutes to make it 3 - 2 to Romulus. Even then the Wanderers had chances to level the score, Jason Cohen saw his shot clear the cross bar a couple of minutes later and in the final minute of the game Pius saw his effort well saved to deny him a hatrick. All in all, this was a great game of football with some great football played by both sides, man of the match went to Pius Ofori for his brace of goals for Wanderers and Sean Ellis for his display in centre midfield for Romulus. |
Saturday 12th September 2009
Welbeck Welfare 2 v 2 MK Wanderers
This was the reverse fixture in the grading games section of the fixtures and this time it was MK wanderers who were making the journey up the M1 to Mansfield to face Welbeck Welfare. With three players missing from the week before and another still sidelined for a week, it would be interesting to see how the depleted squad would perform.
Due to delays in the journey, the squad were forced to change and go straight in to the game without even a warm-up and due to this, the opening exchanges saw Welbeck push the Wanderers in to their own defensive third and impose themselves on the game. With less than 10 minutes gone a back pass to Sam Jay in goal saw his clearance kick fall to a Welbeck player and he quickly fed it through to their striker who free on goal slotted the ball home to make it 1 – 0 to the home side. On 10 minutes, Welbeck thought they had a good shout for a penalty but the referee thought otherwise. Some inappropriate thoughts were conveyed to the referee who had no choice but to send off the offending Welbeck player. This should have been the spur that the Wanderers needed, but with two striker missing, Curran Sagoo was partnered with makeshift striker Sam Slatter and to many times the ball was played directly these two players making ti easier for Welbeck to defend. On 20 minutes, Derrick MacDonald was moved up front and Sam on to the left wing and this brought immediate reward, Derrick latched on to a Ben Shepherd through ball outpaced the defence to slot home and make it 1 – 1. Fully in to their stride now Wanderers started to impose themselves on the game and on 30 minutes Sam Slatter picked up the ball in the middle of the park and make a great run at the defence before hitting an unstoppable shot in to the top right corner of the goal to make it 1 – 2. Welbeck although down to 10 men, still attacked at every opportunity and the rapid striker up front caused a problem or two which Collum Rooney and Matt Hayes in defence did well to handle, however one such run saw the striker tripped and this resulted in a yellow card for Matt. From the resultant freekick, only a good save in goal denied Welbeck, but on 35 minutes they drew level, good work up the right saw the ball played in to the area and the Welbeck left wing finished with style to make it 2 – 2 going in to half time.
The second half saw Jason Cohen come on to replace Collum Rooney with Derrick moving back to the left wing and Sam Slatter partnered Sam Oxley at fullback. Jason could have added a third for Wanderers after some great work by Curran but the effort just went past the left hand post, Tom Thornton playing on the wing also saw his effort just go wide as did Ben Shepherd in midfield. Welbeck themselves were denied on a number of occasions with only some good and great saves by Sam in goal keeping the scores level. Late on a strong challenge by Matt Hayes resulted in him picking up a second yellow which resulted in both teams finishing the game with 10 players. In the end, with Sam denying Welbeck and Wanderers missing chances that should have gone in, the score remained the same and the game ended in a 2 – 2 draw. Both teams felt they had chances to win the game, but in reality, the depleted Wanderers side missed that clinical edge they had last week, but a good point away from home keeps the team in the hunt for a good finish in the grading group. |
Saturday 5th September 2009
U17 Colts 7 v Wellbeck Welfare 0
This was the first outing for the new MK Wanderers Youth team and they were up against Welbeck Welfare from Nottinghamshire. Welbeck had made the journey down the M1 from Mansfield and on a glorious sunny morning both teams' league campaigns got underway.
The opening exchanges saw both teams testing each other out, but it was Welbeck that were able to impose themselves on MK Wanderers and they worked hard to chase every ball down and put pressure on the home team from the off. Indeed for the first quarter of the game a lot of the play was in the MK Wanderers half and both Pius Ofori and Curran Sagoo up front for the Wanderers saw little ball and only resolute defending from Matt Hayes and Josh Menday at Centre-back and captain Dan Hassell and Sam Slatter at full back kept them at bay, however on 15 minutes Sam Slatter took a knock to his thigh and had to come off with a dead leg, he was replaced by Sam Oxley. Welbeck could well have taken the lead on 25 minutes, a free kick just outside the area was bound for the top right corner, but a great save by Sam Jay in goal pushed the ball on to the cross bar and Josh did equally well to knock the ball out of play for a corner to deny the rebound. Slowly the Wanderers got themselves in the game and started to impose themselves with Derrick MacDonald in particular making a nuisance of himself on the left wing and his runs set up both Pius and Curran but a great save from Oliver Graney in goal for Welbeck denied Pius and Curran's effort went just wide. Oliver was again called in to action on 35 minutes, a Charlie Fisher free kick was met by Matt Hayes, but his header was again well saved by the keeper, however on 43 minutes there was nothing that the Welbeck keeper could do to stop the first goal of the game, another great run by Derrick saw him pull the ball back and Pius was on hand to slot the ball home 1 – 0 at half time.
The second half saw both teams come out pumped up, but it was the Wanderers who had the better of the possession. On 53 minutes some great interplay between Curran and Pius resulted in Curran teeing up Ben Shepherd who rifled the ball home to make it 2 – 0. Less than 5 minutes later Curran then got himself on the score sheet after good work between Ryan Coyle in midfield and Dan Hassell out wide to make it 3 – 0 and on 70 minutes Ryan himself scored with a screamer of a shot from outside the area to make it 4 – 0. This score was really tough on Welbeck, without subs their players were working their socks off and never gave up and it looked like they might pull one back when Adam Scott broke free past the defence, but he saw his effort again well saved by Sam in goal to deny him. With tired legs in defence, MK Wanderers then added a fifth through Tom Thornton who hit a cracking shot from just inside the area to make it 5 – 0 and Jason Cohen netted with a left footed peach of a shot to make it 6 – 0, Charlie Fisher wrapped up the scoring on a poignant day for him with a goal for his dad (the whole team wishes Brian well with his recovery) to make it 7 – 0.
This was a tough score line for Welbeck who played some great football throughout the game and will for sure be a much tougher proposition at home next week with a larger squad. Man of the match for the home team went to Derrick MacDonald for his display on the wing and for Adam Scott from Welbeck for his display through the match. |
Sunday 17th May 2009
MK&BCYFL CUP FINAL
Scot Youth 3 V 5 MK Wanderers A
The first person to score a hatrick at Stadium MK!!!
So the final of the Citizen sponsored league cup finally arrived and the Wanderers had their chance to play on the fantastic playing surface of the MK Dons. Arriving at the ground early the team absorbed the atmosphere during the U14's final and at their appointed time they met at the entrance and the lead up to the game started.
The opposition were Scot Youth and the two teams had played each other only a fortnight before, Scot Youth coming out 4 – 3 winners in what had to be Wanderers poorest performance of the season so far. So Simon and Jackie were keen to see how the boys would react. The game started of with the Wanderers attacking the away end of the stadium and from the off they used the massive pitch size to their advantage. Derrick MacDonald on the left and Ben Rymer on the right played with as much width as possible and saw a lot of the early ball. Captain Joe Hooper and Jamie Cox in the centre of midfield worked hard to impose themselves on the opposition and Pius Ofori and Nathan Skelton upfront used lots of movement to keep the Scot's defence guessing. It only took until the 10th minute for the first goal of the game to arrive and it went to the Wanderers, a great run from Pius saw him lose his defender and pick up a pass from Joe, he skipped past the second defender and coolly slotted it left footed past the Scot's keeper 0 – 1. On 17 minutes a free kick to the left of the Scot's penalty box was brilliantly converted by Dan Hassel but to everyone's amazement the flag went up for an infringement, a supposed block on the keeper ruling the goal out. However on 23 minutes no-one could argue with the Wanderers second, great work from Ben saw him keep the ball in play from a Joe pass, tuck it inside for Nathan who in turn crossed to Pius. Pius controlled the ball and slotted home to make it 0 – 2, a lead they took in to half time.
The second half saw the Wanderers attacking the Cow Shed and coming out of the changing rooms to a massive cheer, the boys must have been elevated by this vociferous support. It had been pushed home in the half time team talk that they needed to score first and within 2 minutes of the restart they did exactly that. Some great work in defence saw centre back Matt Fessey work the ball wide to right back Sam Oxley, he fed it cross field to Ben who in turn played it in to Pius and he used his strength to hold off the defender, beat him for pace and slot home for his hatrick, the first ever at any level in Stadium MK. Scot's though then showed they wouldn't roll over and give up, some great work up front saw a good effort at goal, but Sam Jay in goal was equal to it and he saved well to deny them. The Wanderers then made a couple of substitutions, Jamie was replaced by Jason King, with Josef Dansoe moving to centre mid, and Tom Thornton came on to replace Sam Oxley. These two changes in defence could have disrupted the team, but Dan Hassell in particular was having an immense game and with Scot's making some positional changes, Dan moved from left back to right back to counter this new threat. On 60 minutes Scot's did claw a goal back, a good run by their striker saw him shot wide but the referee called play back awarding a penalty to Scot's. Their striker was gracious enough to admit no foul took place but the penalty was duly slotted home 1 – 3. Jason Cohen was the Wanderers next substitution, he replaced Skelly who had worked hard up front and the Wanderers continued to press. On 70 minutes this effort was again rewarded when Pius picked up his fourth of the game after another flowing move saw him released through on goal and he slotted home to make it 1 – 4. Perhaps the Wanderers thought the job was done, but a small lapse in concentration allowed Scot's to pull another goal back almost immediately to make it 2 – 4, however Pius was not finished, not only was he the first player to score a hatrick at Stadium MK, he went on to score an amazing fifth goal, a great turn and shot saw his shot clip the inside of the post and go in to make it 2 – 5. Derrick nearly added a sixth, he was tormenting Scot's out wide on the left and no sooner had he swapped with Harry Melhuish, Harry then clipped the outside of the post with a great shot. The biggest cheer of the day though was reserved for Charlie Fisher. Charlie who was almost in tears due to an injury picked up midweek before the game had had to endure sitting on the bench whilst his team-mates played out the game. But with 4 minutes left, he took to the field to a massive ovation, lasted two minutes and then came off to an even bigger ovation. Scot's did pick up a consolation third with a minute left but the Wanderers ran out 5 – 3 winners, everyone of the squad played a part on the day and the whole club is massively proud of their achievement.
Man of the match was chosen by the teams sponsor Mark Soave of Gasmarks, two players had exceptional games, Dan Hassel in defence and Pius Ofori upfront, but in the end Pius's five goals gave him the edge. |
|
| This site has been visited 508440 times since it's launch |
|
|
|
|
|
|
