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Match Reports

8th March 2003

Under 11's Div 11A : Bottisham 11-0 ETS Strikers

On a very windy day, with the wind blowing from the far goal towards the near goal, ETS won the toss and elected to play the first half with the wind at their backs. The game started well with some good movement and passing, and tackling, from both sides, with a good first chance falling to the ETS Number 10 after 5 minutes. However, they were finding that long balls were tending to go far beyond their forwards, because of the wind. Bottisham's shorter passing was standing them in good stead and they began to gain and keep more possession. This paid off in the 13th minute when, after Henry won a 50/50 challenge and passed the ball to Nick who squared the ball to James, giving him a chance in front of goal, which he took with ease. James again used his opportunity well in the 17th minute when he ran at the ETS defence and was able to score his second. Three minutes later, a mistake by the ETS 'keeper gave Nick a chance to put Bottisham 3 nil up, and 5 minutes later there was a good effort by Alex, which unfortunately hit the cross bar and went out for a goal kick.
The first half ended with Bottisham firmly established, leading by 3 goals. ETS had continually rotated its squad, whilst Bottisham played nearly the same team for the whole half. The second half saw a fresh Bottisham side coming on with the wind, this time, favouring them. They took advantage of this in the first minute with Edd scoring from a good series of passes which ended in a chance from James being parried by the ETS 'keeper. Edd was there to collect the rebound. The pressure was kept up and shortly afterwards, again after a careful build up, James had a scoring opportunity, narrowly missing with his left foot. Two minutes later James again was unable to keep the ball on target, again narrowly missing with his left foot. Bottisham kept up the pressure and five minutes later Edd also just had a shot on goal saved by the ETS 'keeper, who turned the ball round the post for a corner. The corner was taken by Marcus, and the ball was put in by Alex, 5 nil to Bottisham.
Despite valiant attempts by ETS, they found it hard to keep the ball out of their own half and James again had a chance on goal, a right footed shot being saved by the 'keeper, just on the line. Shortly afterwards, in the 13th minute of the second half another corner by Marcus gave Ash a beautifully taken headed goal, straight past the anguished ETS defenders massed on the goal line. A minute later another corner gave Bottisham another chance of a headed goal, but Marcus put it just over the crossbar. Sustained pressure continued, despite a couple of breaks by ETS, which were confidently handled by the defensive pairing of Dino and Jamie, who were able to mark the ETS captain, Number 8, out of the game altogether. The pressure resulted in a goal from Edd, after a superb cross, which allowed him a clear view of the ETS goal.
A minute after the restart Ash crossed to Henry in front of goal, but the cross was just too far in front of Henry for him to connect, even at full stretch. The ETS defence seemed to find crosses difficult to deal with and in the 17th minute of the second half another, this time better placed, cross from Ash was put past the 'keeper by Edd, giving him his hat-trick, his first for Bottisham this season. During another move by Bottisham, another cross, this time in from the left wing from Ed, was intercepted by ETS Number 12, who, in clearing towards his goalkeeper, fired the ball into his own net, bringing the score to 9 nil to Bottisham.
ETS were again able to make a couple of breaks, but again the Bottisham defence were able to keep them clear of goal, despite a couple of incidents involving ETS Number 10. A change in the Bottisham line-up, with Robbie replacing Jamie followed, and in the 23rd minute a good pass from Nick gave Marcus a chance. Marcus invariably takes his chances, and the goal inevitably followed. The final change in the Bottisham line-up followed shortly afterwards when Jordan, virtually untested today, was allowed to come on the field, being replaced as goalkeeper by Robbie. They were still busy changing jerseys when the referee re-started the game with a goal kick, much to the consternation of some of the Bottisham players. The consternation was short-lived, however, when ETS, unable to press their perceived advantage, despite being vocally aware of it, allowed Marcus a view of their goal, and he finished the game with a tremendous effort which shot past the ETS 'keeper into the back of the net, just before the referee blew for time.
The result, a clear victory for Bottisham, despite valiant efforts by ETS who at no time allowed their heads to go down. Jordan, in the Bottisham goal, was never tested and the two defence teams of Robbie and Stephen, and Jamie and Dino, then Robbie and Dino kept things safe at the back, whilst the mid-field did their usual competent, and sometimes inspired, job of controlling the centre of the pitch and supplying the forwards, whilst having a go themselves whenever the opportunity arose. A good game.
Report submitted by P.Tyson

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15th March 2003

Under 11's Div 11A : Bottisham 6-1 Saffron Walden Town
Originally to be a home game, but played at Saffron Walden, after the away game was played, at Saffron Walden's request, at Bottisham)
The game kicked off at 10:32 on Saturday morning; a bright sunny, yet cold and windy start. From the start great commitment was shown by both sides, with Saffron Walden's first chance coming at the end of first minute of play with a missed shot. The goal kick saw Bottisham gaining a corner, taken by Kieran and cleared by the Saffron Walden defence, leading to another break by Saffron Walden and a good save by Jordan. Two minutes later another save, this time by Saffron Walden, then a corner to Bottisham, taken by Nick, with Saffron Walden again breaking, leading to another super save from Jordan, followed by a Saffron Walden corner which was shot in from the penalty area just over the bar.
The eighth minute saw two Bottisham corners, both taken by Nick, but to no result. During the second corner, Nick got a cross blocked, the ball rebounding into his face, which necessitated his replacement by James. Saffron Walden again made a break following this and some good movement lead to their centre forward racing towards the Bottisham goal, only to be closed down in the penalty area and effectively robbed of the ball by Stephen, an excellent bit of defending. Stephen then cleared the ball to the midfield, from which it was moved up to the Saffron Walden half of the pitch where Marcus got possession and shot home the first goal.
With their confidence up and success beckoning, Bottisham began to play very much better, with some very good passing and moving off the ball leading to another chance to Marcus in the 16th minute, which only just went past the post. A curious bit of play by Saffron Walden followed, with one of their players trying to play whilst lying on his back, but to no avail, with Bottisham once again getting possession and controlling the midfield, leading to another corner and another missed shot. In the 18th minute Alex got the ball following a throw in and shot at goal but the Saffron Walden 'keeper was able to block it, only for James to get the rebound. Shortly after the restart another Bottisham move began, with a wonderful sequence of passes. Joseph got the ball in midfield and passed to Marcus, who passed to James. James returned the ball to Marcus, who passed it back to James, in front of goal, and James scored. Three nil to Bottisham.
The rest of the half was at a tremendous pace, with end to end play throughout. There was some first class defending by Bottisham, and two superb saves by Jordan in the Bottisham goal, whilst at the other end both James and Marcus narrowly missed scoring. The second half opened in much the same style, with end to end play and little real domination of the game by either side. In the fifth minute, however, Saffron Walden made a break and put in a shot at the Bottisham goal. Jordan saved it, but, in his only 'mistake' of the game, was unable to hold onto it, and a Saffron Walden player was able to take advantage of the dropped ball and got one back for Saffron Walden. Bottisham tightened up their game after this and began to raise their game. They soon began to dominate completely, with a run at the Saffron Walden from Henry only stopped by Henry being brought down by a challenge in the penalty area. Further chances followed, with Henry sending in a series of crosses from the right wing. In the 10th and 11th minutes Marcus had two efforts, being particularly unlucky not to score from a header which only just went over the Saffron Walden crossbar. The inevitable goal, given the sustained pressure from Bottisham, followed soon after, when an attempt by Edd from a cross by Henry was cleared only to fall to Nick, who scored.
A minute after the restart, another wonderful example of Bottisham's passing game allowed a classic one two between Edd and Nick, resulting in a goal to Edd. The line-up changed after 15 minutes, with Nick going off, being replaced by James. Nick had been carrying an injury from earlier in the week. The final goal came from Ash, slotting in a rebound from the post from yet another shot at goal from Edd. Unfortunately, Ash had to come off injured and was replaced by Jamie. The final minutes of the game saw further Bottisham attacks culminating in narrowly missed goals from Marcus, Henry and Marcus again.
A good, hard fought game, marred only by some foul and abusive language directed by one of the Saffron Walden supporters towards Henry for most of the second half. This was reported at the end of the game to the referee, the Saffron Walden manager. He raised it with the Saffron Walden supporters, who denied it, and no further action was taken by him, although he offered a general apology to Bottisham, without acknowledging a problem.
Report submitted by P.Tyson

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