Rangers U10R entertained Warboys Colts at home, on a bright and breezy Saturday morning.听 Warboys got the game under way and soon lost possession to Rangers, with the home side probing, the breakthrough came very early on. Harry tackling strongly in midfield, pushed the ball forward towards the front. Rangers playing quick ball to feet, put together some neat passes. The last was a sublime, deft touch from Bradley with the outside of his boot, that went past the outstretched foot of a defender, to be met by Dan D who struck a sweet left footed half volley from just outside the area that rippled the net, two minutes gone and one nil up! With the wind behind them and a goal to the good, Rangers began to mount some pressure. Bradley using both flanks to twist around the Warboys defence, Dan D probing through the middle and Dan R using his pace on the left, to knock in some crosses.
| Dan, St Ives U10R |
Bradley came close with a shot from the right intending to beat the goalkeeper at his far post, but it went wide. Warboys then got into their game; a penetrating run gave them some space behind the Rangers defence, but Lewis was quickly out to narrow down the angle and the shot went wide. We then had a spell of end to end football as Warboys earned themselves a corner; this was dealt with by the Rangers defence and they went on the attack; Harry providing the run on the right hand side. This attack broke down and Warboys went in search of an equaliser; their attack earning them a corner that was cleared easily by Jack, the clearance eventually reaching Bradley who hit his shot low and wide. Rangers upped the pressure, sensing a second goal; two quickly taken corners confusing the Warboys defence but coming to nothing. Then Warboys stuck back in the 21st minute; Rangers failing to clear a loose ball were caught out by Matt B who placed a low shot into the corner beyond a diving Lewis. Rangers came back at the visitors; Harry getting on the end of a neatly worked corner, but his header just went wide. Dan D had the last effort of the half; his cross shot was handled easily by the Warboys keeper. Rangers started the second half attacking into the wind and were nearly caught out early on; the Warboys attacker shooting wide as Lewis once again raced out to narrow down the angle. The resulting goal kick was worked wide to Dan R who went on a run and then knocked a ball into the Warboys box. Unable to clear it, the ball only went as far as Bradley who nudged it to Dan D but he blasted his shot over the bar! Warboys were back on the attack and forced a save from Lewis. His long clearance found Dan D who pushed the ball wide to Bradley; the Warboys defence were quick to close him down, but Bradley managed to whip a shot around the defender that just went over. The second half ebbed and flowed as Warboys took advantage of the wind behind them, they could have taken the lead on a couple of occasions, but poor finishing from Warboys and solid goalkeeping from Lewis, coupled with stout defending from Jack stopped them. Rangers battled well into the wind, and had a number of chances themselves; Bradley and Dan D both going close a couple of times. Dan R kept on stretching the Warboys back line with his quick runs on the left flank; the final wide ball whipped into the box causing problems.听 Both sets of players were working hard, with the teams attacking and defending in waves, but neither team were able to break the deadlock and the game ended one all. Kevin Mawby of Warboys Colts said after the game that he felt both teams were evenly matched and the draw was a fair result. Ian Ratcliffe and Andy Smith of Rangers were equally full of praise for the teams. |