U13 Match Report - Hartswood Stars 0 - 7 Tilbury - 25th April 2010

With just four fixtures remaining this season, Tilbury needed to maintain their unbeaten run this year to ensure they remained in contention with League leaders Romford. Hartswood Stars were two places behind the junior Dockers prior to kick-off so were going to be no pushover. The return fixture earlier in the season was a close affair with Tilbury scraping a narrow victory against a resilient Hartswood team. The boys were therefore expecting a tough game.

The match was played on a changeable April afternoon at the Warley complex. The pitch had a large slope but was in very good condition.The top surface was greasy following rain earlier in the day. Hartswood wore their familiar red shirts and navy shorts whilst Tilbury wore their usual white shirts and black shorts. The home team kicked off playing down the slope.

Hartswood were quick to let Tilbury know they were in a scrap with a number of robust challenges in the early stages. The referee was quick to calm things down to ensure things didn't get out of hand. Both sides pressed in the early stages and created a number of opportunities. Tilbury played some excellent football in the first half but found it difficult to break the home team down. Five minutes before the interval however they were awarded a free-kick ten yards outside the penalty box. James Wade stepped up to rifle the ball into the back of the net giving the keeper no chance. Soon after, Tilbury doubled their advantage when they were awarded a penalty after James was hacked down in the box. James dusted himself down and slotted the spot-kick into the net only for the referee to demand it be re-taken following encroachment in the box. James duly obliged placing the second kick in exactly the same place as the first. And that's how the first half ended - 2-0 to Tilbury.

A few minutes into the second half, Tilbury extended their lead further with an opportunist strike from Ross Morbin six yards out giving the keeper no chance. Tilbury's fitness was clearly paying dividends as many of the Hartswood players began to tire. Indeed they had no substitutes to ease the pressure so were clearly going to struggle in the latter stages. And so it proved to be.

Tilbury's fourth goal came fifteen minutes into the second period - a well struck right-footed effort by Joe Carter from ten yards outside the box. The ball flew into the bottom-left corner giving the keeper little chance. Paul Elliot added to his tally for the season with a similar goal a few minutes later - a left-footed half-volley from well outside the box which beat the diving keeper to his right.

Ross Morbin then got his second of the game - a header from a well taken corner. The floodgates were opening as Tilbury went in search of goals and Hartswood struggled to keep pace. The icing on the cake came three minutes before the end of the game when Charlie Wilson curled in a fantastic free-kick from just inside the touchline into the top corner of the net - a definite contender for "goal of the season".

The referee ended the game soon after with Tilbury running out deserved victors. This was a thoroughly entertaining match and was not quite as one-sided as the scoreline would suggest. Indeed it could have ended 10-3 with each side hitting posts and crossbars on a number of occasions.

Tilbury have closed the gap on the league leaders to one point following this game, and have a game in-hand. If they win their remaining three games, they'll be crowned Champions! They reached another impressive landmark today with their goal difference reaching a very impressive +100! Not bad given they've only played nineteen games so far!

Well done boys, congratulations on another fantastic performance. And thanks to Hartswood Stars for a great game played in excellent spirits.

Pictures from the game can be found here.

POS................................. P.. W.. D L. GD PTS
1 Romford Borough Youth 'B' 21 19 1 1 76 58
2 Tilbury Youth................. 19 18 0 1 99 54
3 Cougars ........................19 14 1 4 76 43
4 Gidea Park Rangers .......... 21 12 0 9 33 36
5 Hartswood Stars ............ .20 10 3 7 28 33
6 Doddinghurst Olympic 'B' .. .20 9 2 9 -3 29
7 Brentwood Athletic 'B'...... 19 8 3 8 14 27
8 Clarion United .................17 8 1 8 20 25
9 Romford Borough Youth 'C' 18 5 1 12 -19 16
10 Sprint Youth .................18 4 0 14 -46 12
11 F.C. Redwing 'B' ............. 21 2 0 19 -142 6
12 Brentwood Athletic 'C'..... 19 1 0 18 -136 3

For some reason, the Chelmsford League has recorded this as a 6-0 win for Tilbury - must be a typo as I definitely counted seven!!