Date	Sunday 12th May 2013
Match	Royston Town Youth v Buntingford Cougars
Competition	Royston Crow Youth Football League U15 Division 1
Result	Lost 0-1

Part one of two games against our local rivals Buntingford who once again have shown the way by retaining the county cup (the first team to do this) and looking favourites to win the league. This fixture usually brings the best out in the boys and although it is always ultra competitive there is also mutual respect and the game is always played in the right spirit.

Richard had still not recovered enough to play in this game but Bradley, Eamon, James R and AJ  had all recovered from their knocks on Sunday although their were some concerns about Eamon.I had to make sure the boys were fully focused for this one and had the right mind set as anything less would not be acceptable. We spoke about closing them down all over the park to put them under pressure and make sure if we did not win the first ball we made sure we won the second. We had to be organised at set plays especially after Sunday and each boy new their job. I was really looking forward to this and I could tell the boys were to.

We started really well and were pressing them in the areas we had talked about and we were having a bit more of the ball in that first ten minutes.Buntingford started to get more into the game and were creating some half chances but overall we were defending well. The first clear cut chance fell to us when Callum swung over the ball from out wide which the Buntingford defence did not deal with and Bradley managed to hook the ball over his shoulder this beat the keeper but was cleared off the line. The game was a tight affair and clear cut chances were hard for both teams to come by, Robbie was claiming everything in the box and when we did have to defend set plays we were coping well. A mix up at the back allowed the first real chance to Buntingford and although the shot beat Robbie it also just rolled passed the post. The deadlock was broken when a throw in down our left was collected by the centre forward and he showed good strength before playing a ball along our six yard line the left midfielder then ran in and side footed passed Robbie giving him no chance. This was a goal that could have been avoided on two accounts we were not strong enough defending and the midfielders run was not tracked and as harsh as that might sound these are the fine lines we always speak about in the big games. We continued to stay in the game and the ref blow for half time with us 1-0 down.

On the whole it was a good half, we had played some good football been competitive all over the park and had created some chances, it was a case of now believing we could get something from the game and making sure we stayed focused because as proven with that goal you switch off for a second and you get hurt.

The second half started and the pattern was pretty much the same as the first half two teams fully committed trying to play the right way. Chances from both sides were at a minimum with both defences coping well.Buntinford enjoyed a good spell and were getting on top when their centre forward picked the ball out on our right he cut inside was challenged by Alasdair but stayed on his feet and his shot was well saved by Robbie, their centre forward limped out of the game after that challenge and in all fairness I thought it was a penalty so you have to give the lad some credit for staying on his feet.Buntingford dropped one of the centre midfielders back to play in front of the defence and this allowed AJ to find some space and his range of passing was causing them problems, one such move ended with AJ finding James R out wide and although he got his shot away the keeper saved it. We continued to push forward but could not find the equaliser and the final whistle went with a 1-0 defeat.

I could not fault them in that first game in my opinion that’s the most competitive we have been against Buntingford for quite a while and what I mean by that is on chances created we always give 100% effort against them but possession wise that was much closer. We did not have time to feel sorry for ourselves we had to take the positives out of this and get ourselves up for part 2.