U13 St. Albans City South V Harvesters South

There is a pattern appearing with the U13 South - When it pours with rain and we have 11 players we win, when its bright and sunny and we are short of players, we lose, at least that's been the story so far this season!

Unfortunately for this game, it was bright and sunny and we had 10 players to start the game, so the omens weren't good! On the flip side though SAC South also had 10 players to start the game and so the boys approached the match with a positive frame of mind. Fuad was starting his first game for Harvesters and after an even 10-15 minutes, he broke the deadlock with a long shot that bent towards the SAC stand-in keeper who was taken by suprise and it slipped through his hands and dribbled over the line to put HFC South ahead. Harvesters were marginally stronger for the rest of the first half but SAC eventually managed to put a combination of passes toegther to create a 1 on 1 opportunity and made it 1-1 just before half time.

St. Albans had an extra player on his way to the game and he arrived at half time to tip the player balance in favour of the home team with 11 v 10. Harvesters managed the SAC over-load well for 17 minutes of the 2nd half, but the pressure was building with St. Albans having more and more possession as the Harvesters players started to tire, particularly the midfield who were finding it harder and harder to get back to help out the defence. Harvesters struggled to play their passing football and instead they were relying on a lone striker (Jason) to make the most of any break-away opportunities. He worked his socks off against 3 defenders and nearly broke through a couple of times but it never quite worked out for us. Fuad had a good chance to double his tally, when a rare 2nd half passing move put him in front of goal with just the keeper to beat, but the shot was straight into the keeper's gloves and the chance was gone.

Soon after St. Albans city pressure finally paid off and after several wild shots, their number 9 finally found the mark and put the home team ahead with a chip over Dan, breaking the HFC resolve.

3 goals in the last 5 minutes created a flattering scoreline for SAC, but in the end it was a valient effort from Harvesters South but it was just too much to ask when the player odds were against them. The boys felt deflated at the end, but they really should feel proud of their efforts and imagine how different it could have been with a full complement of players.