Thursday evening saw the Young Colls visit Worsborough Bridge Athletic in the FA Youth Cup Preliminary Round. Reports suggested we would face a strong, physical team who had some strong individual players and that proved to be the case. The hosts tricky winger and striker caused problems early on and only some good recovering defence and a couple of shots that flashed past the post kept the scores level. As the game progressed past the 15 minute mark, the Colls gained some control and good play down the left from Rob saw Callum fire goal wards but the home goalkeeper made a smart save to parry wide.
Colls then nearly took the lead when a Fairweather header went back across the goal, only to see it hooked off the line by the defender. 10 minutes before half time, a goal kick from the impressive Wright was flicked on and Clegg arrived 18 yards out to smash home on the half volley with his left foot. Colls then picked up the pace and a second goal quickly followed when a corner was headed back across goal for Cole to volley home.
Half time saw the Colls go in 2-0 up. Ponte spoke at half time about the need to up the tempo as they felt although they were leading, they weren’t at their best and they started in the best possible fashion. Excellent play by Armitage as he drove through the midfield and slid the ball to Clegg who finished with an Henry type finish, whipping round the onrushing keeper.
At 3-0, we were cruising but lost the ball too easily in the midfield and a slip by our defender allowed the Worsborough striker to prod home. Game back on? Cole Patrick then powered through the home defence, only to be spear tackled by the defender and a penalty was awarded. Clegg gratefully dispatched into the corner for 4-1 and to complete his hat-trick.
An under-hit back pass then allowed the home team to score again and put a little bit of pressure on but Colls wrapped up the victory with a brilliant fifth which showed us at our best. We won the ball in the midfield and Cole drove forward before playing a delightful ball with the outside of his foot around the last defender and Callum finished first time from 18 yards. The celebrations as a group showed what the goal meant and we could have added late goals as a Bouncer shot flashed just wide of the upright and another couple of chances came and went but we saw the game out professionally and are delighted to be in the next round.
Manager Lee Kelsey was delighted with the result and felt there was still much more to come from the group. “We did very well in patches but still lacked the tempo we know we can play at. Worsborough had a few very dangerous players and made it difficult for us but I felt after the first quarter of an hour, we controlled the majority of the game. I was delighted that we were able to choose 17 players for the fixture and give the majority of the lads their first taste of FA Cup football. Every member of the squad, including the three players who didn’t get on were a massive part of tonight. I was delighted with the attitude of the players and that showed in the reaction to the goals we scored. It was also fantastic to have 6 first years in the squad after just joining the programme. In addition to this, Harry and Alfie Charlotte were with us who are part of our very successful Under 16 squad and shows what our philosophy is in bringing through young, local talent. For Harry to get 40 minutes and have a big influence after only just turning 15 is testament to him and the team he is part of.”
An all round really encouraging night for the Colls and hopefully the start of a very enjoyable season, full of development, enjoyment and plenty of goals.