Last Friday Paul drove our team of U15s up to Hunter Sports High School in Gateshead, an old hunting ground of mine and a few of our players. I was proud to be in the ‘blue’ corner and take on our old peers.
To save on time, we had our team talk on the bus and the lads practically ran onto the field after the hour trip. My expectations were set high and there were no excuses for a slow start.
The boys answered the call in style, getting straight into a rhythm of play and being purposeful in their player tasks and team roles. The test then came as Hunter got some joy and converted an opportunity that tried to dampen our spirits. The next expectation was for the players to respond, and respond they did.
After missing some yearning chances, we managed to equalise and never looked back. We settled in, dominated and scored another shortly after. By the end, the game got very competitive, as interestingly Hunter appeared not to want to finish the game until they scored. The only answer was for us to score and our star #9 executed a ‘peach’ of a goal from outside the box. 3-1 IFS.
The intent the players showed to take their training tasks into a testing game situation really made me proud. Long after the initial high of taking the result and best performance, a rewarding conviction has remained, of where we are headed as individuals and as a group. Even more pleasing was the attitude of the players for the next session to get back to work, and build on the standard of performance that was set. Well done boys!
Joey
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