01/12/2025
Saturday, Lakenheath U15 Hurricanes travelled to Cottenham for a bottom-of-the-table clash with both teams looking for their first points of the season.
The boys' spirits were up before KO, which for me showed positive signs from the get-go. The game started evenly, with neither team creating clear chances despite positive build-up play from both sides. Cottenham struck around the 20-minute mark with a long-range effort that bounced unkindly for the keeper, skipping off the wet surface. With some substitutions made, Lakenheath managed to get back into the game and looked positive. A thing we have lacked in recent games when conceding first. With no other clear-cut chances and both defensive teams playing well, we went in at halftime 1 nil down. We rejigged the formation at half-time and set out with clear instructions for the second half. I feel we largely dominated the second half and had more shots on goal, but unfortunately, we didn't really test the goalkeeper. The breakthrough came from a well-taken free kick from Alfie Stafford in the top corner to make it 1-1. You could see the boys growing in confidence and starting to play football with less panic and more movement and passing. We thought we had the game wrapped up a few minutes later when we were awarded a penalty, but this time Alfie put it over the bar. After recent results, I got that sinking feeling that that was the chance. Cottenham countered on occasions, but the defence stood firm, winning tackles and headers, and making the right decisions about when to play safe and when to play forward. More pressure from Lakenheath could have easily led to another goal, but good defending and some good saves kept it level. With literally the last kick of the game, an unlikely hero stepped up, the ball fell to Theo, who I think just didn’t have the legs to get back in defence, he picked it up and hit a shot to the top right corner. The goalie got a finger to it to tip it on the post, but couldn’t recover in time for it to cross the line. The ref blew his whistle, much to the delight of the players, the parents, and the coaches.
Every player today put a shift in, which is all we ever want from the team, and hopefully, this can kick-start our season.
