Untitled Document

MATCH REPORTS

4th October 2009 - Hesketh Bank 2-4 Gillibrand

After an impressive performance last week the kids were looking forward to another game and we knew that Gillibrand had been performing really well so we needed to be on form. The game started at a fast pace and again we had an end to end home game for the fans at Guide road. Gillibrands were the first to score when their striker was able to latch onto a lose ball and got in between William in goal and our defense and he poked to ball into the goal for 0-1. We restarted and really went for Gillibrands and their keeper made a few brilliant and important saves from Matthew and George. Gillibrands then passed a wonderful move together and released their little striker who whizzed through into space to slot another passed William. We seemed to drop our heads in disbelief and the punished us again as we were a bit sleepy in midfield, the scored just before half time to make it 0-3. The second half started and we re-shaped into a 2-4 system so the midfield was tighter, this meant Owen would drop from attack into the middle of the park. Within a minute we were rewarded when a cross field pass was picked up by Liam who passed to George and then Owen who controlled the ball in the penalty area and turned his defender to shoot, but the defender whipped his legs from under him. The ref pointed straight to the penalty spot. Matthew Freer took the penalty which the keeper saved onto the post but Matthew collected the rebound to make it 1-3. Minutes later we were attacking again and the ball rebounded of a defender to Owen on the outside of the area who hit his shot first time through the defense, this wrong footed the keeper and the ball sailed into the far corner to make it 2-4. Gillibrands did not sit back they started attacking even more and William made some great saves especially when he was 1 on 1 with the Gillibrands attackers, he was really having a great second half. Eventually the pressure and quality showed and Gillibrands scored again with a goal mouth scramble and the ball crept over the line to make it 2-4.

A great spectators game with some wonderful football.

Final Result = 2-4 Defeat

MOM = William for an amazing second half performance in goal, he listed to his coaches advice and it paid off for him.

Scorers = Matthew Freer 1 and Owen Kilburn 1.

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27th September 2009 - Lostock Hall Black 0-7 Hesketh Bank

With 3 defeats so far this season the kids were really anxious to get themselves a win and they had played Lostock Hall in a pre season friendly, so we knew a few of their players. The game started and immedialetly we asserted ourselves on the game and we pushed forward trying to break down the Lostock midfield. We started passing really well creating numerous chances on goal which the Lostock keeper was equal to, he puleld off some great early saves. Hesketh just seemed to really have the desire to win this game and they pushed forward again and again looking for the break through, Matthew and George and Owen had great stikes saved by the keeper and this resulted in numeorus corner kicks. Zak decided that he would take this corner kick and with 10 minutes gone he whipped in a corner which eluded everyone and curled into the goal to make it 0-1, a superb strike. This was all that Hesketh needed to pick up the pace that little bit more and the kids just seemed to click and realise that they could play passing football together, which was really rewarding to watch as a coach. Again the Lostock keepr made some great saves and another corner was required which Zak demanded was his. He swung another one in from the left which Owen managed to meet on the half volley for a great side foot tap in. 0-2 and a few minuntes later Owen grabbed another poachers goal when the keeper saved a shot from George and Owen followed in and slotted into the corner to make it 0-3. The 4th goal came soon after and it was the goal of the season for me as a coach, Matty passed from his own half to Owen on the edge of the Lostock area and Owen took a touch with his back to goal and George overlapped him and shouted for the ball and Owen flicked it over his and the defenders head to leave George through on goal with the keeper to beat and George blasted into the top corner to make it 0-4. The score was 0-4 at half time and we were able to make some substitutions to keep people fresh. The Game restarted and Lostock really tried to break us down but Zak Nelson was invincible in defense, he cleared up every lose ball and stopped every attack he simply was having a great game, unfortunately for Lostock. Again we settled on the ball and passed well from defense to midfield and again George broke through to steal the ball off a Lostock defender and he finished into the bottom corner, to make it 0-5 with 26 minutes gone. We had numerous chances again saved by the tremendous Lostcok keeper who was bravely stopping shot after shot, he was a great asset to the team, but he was to be beaten again by Zak who received a rebound from a blocked shot and he drilled the ball into the corner of the goal from the edge of the area to make it 0-6, the big smile and red face said it all! Not to be outdone the ever faithful Matty freer decided it was his turn and after a flowing passing move between 3 Hesketh players he was able to finish from close range to make it 0-7.

An outstanding result for us and our first win of the season, the kids played with spirit and sportsmanship, it was a pleasure.

Final Result = 0-7 WIN

MOM= Zak Nelson for an outstanding defensive master class and 2 goals!
Scorers=Matthew Freer 1, Owen Kilburn 2, George Sergeant 2, Zak Nelson 2.

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20th September 2009 - Tarleton Red 5-1 Hesketh Bank

This was the game that we all wanted to do well in. The local derby game against the next village Tarleton. It was a lovely sunny day to play football and conditions couldn't of been nicer for both teams. Both teams started off really quickly but struggled to find accurate passes, I think the excitement of the occasion was playing a part here. With 4 minutes gone Hesketh took the lead when a passing move between Owen George and finally Matty saw matty put the ball through the Tarleton keepers legs for a 1-0 lead. This seemed to wake Tarleton up and they came back from the restart with all guns blazing, Hesketh were simply played th r ough again and again and again with some excellent triangle passing moves( I can tell Mark G reenwoods been working on that in their training sessions), Tarelton came at us in waves and before we knew it we were 4-1 down going into half time. The pace of the game seemed to really surprise us and we struggled to get passes together. The second half we regrouped and started to play a bit better but we still struggled against a very organised unit and Tarleton had numerous chances again but William in goal pulled off some excellent saves to keep the score down in the second half. Tarleton managed to score another with a flowing passing move, which they deserved from their pressure.

Overall we just struggled breaking down the passing moves that Tarleton put together and we jst didn't manage to get the ball down and passing ourselves as we did against Astley last week.

Final Result = 5-1 defeat

MOM=William for some outstanding and brave saves in goal.
Scorers=Matthew Freer.

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13th September 2009 - Hesketh Bank 2-6 Astley & Buckshaw

The first home game of the season was always one we had looked forward to as we knew we would have great support from the home crowd and they didn't let us down at all. The game started off at a fast pace with both sides passing well and sounding each oher out, there were few chnaces in the first quarter and the teams seemed to cancel each other out. After 9 minutes Hesketh took the lead with a great shot from inside the area from Matthew Freer making it a deserved 1-0 lead as we had just started really passing well and troubling the Astley defence. This was a short lived advnatage as Astley responded in the best way possible and quickly grabbed two quick goals back, both goals came from misundstandings between the goalkeeper and a defender. From the centre kick we immediatley attacked and George Sergeant scored a well desereved goal with a strike into the top corner from just inside the area. Astley then applied the pressure even more and a couple of substitution seemed to strengthen their team and by half time the score was 2-4 to Astley.

The second half started with some great passing moves from both sides and Astley scored a well worked goal, which made it 2-5. Again the play continued with both teams attacking end to end chances and we managed to score again with Matthew Freer dribbling through the Astley defence and around the keeper for an excellent goal, it was now 3-5. This didn't stop Astley who came back for more and managed to score another gaol before the end of the match making it 3-6. It was a really well contested game with some great football, consdiering these kids are only 8 years old.

Final Score = 3-6 defeat

MOM= George Sergeant for being a relentless and tireless player and not missing a challenge the whole game.
Scorers = Matthew Freer 2, George Sergeant 1.

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6th September 2009 - Euxton Villa Black 7-2 Hesketh Bank

This was the first game of the season for the under 9's and it was a difficult fixture against a team we knew would be title contenders. We unfortunately had no substitutes today so it was up to the lucky 7 to try and get something from this game. The match started off quite evenly with no real chances in the first few minutes as the kids tried to find their feet and get comfortable on the ball, Euxton did start to apply pressure down the left wing with a very good number '8' running at Sam and Amelia and looking dangerous. This proved to be our weakness in the first half and repeated attacks down the left wing resulted in numerous chances going the home teams way. Try as we did we couldn't clear our lines and get the ball out of defence for very long and this really hurt us for the last ten minutes of the first half with Euxton coming in 4-0 up at half time. After a brief team talk we changed our shape from a 2:3:1 system to a 2:4 system to try and pack the midfield and stop the pressure on our defence and this seemed to work better for us. The game started to flow from both ends with both teams attacking in waves. Matthew Freer then started to assert himself on the game and found room in the midfield to start breaking away with the ball, he counter attacked numerous times and peppered the Euxon goal with 4 quality shots 3 of which just skimmed the goal posts and the keeper saved the other. Hesketh finally got a reward with a breakaway goal from Matthew Freer which he deserved for all his close efforts. Hesketh quickly scored another goal when the ball broke in midfield and Matthew passed to Owen who managed to pass straight through the Euxton defense and release Liam who finished low into the bottom corner. The score was 4-2 and we were playing better but still under lots of pressure and eventually we tired and Euxton's subs made the difference allowing them to score 3 more goals. It was a spirited first performance against a quality junior team and we did really well to push them in the second half, they were just a better side.

Final Score = 7-2 defeat

MOM = Matthew Freer for some excellent counter attacking football.
Scorers = Liam Mason & Matthew Freer

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23rd August 2009 - FRIENDLY - Hesketh Bank 3-5 Preston Pirates

After the great result two weeks ago the under 9's were looking forward to trying to bring that form into this home game against Preston Pirates. The game started and almost immediately Hesketh Bank broke through the Pirates midfield and launched an attack on goal, two neat passes between Matty and Owen left Owen with a shooting opportunity and he dispatched the ball low into the bottom corner from close range, making it 1-0 with a minute gone. The game continued with the home team pressing forward again and again keeping the pirates in their own half and the passing and movement from Liam, Matty, Sam and Owen continued to cause the Pirates problems. With 10 minutes gone Owen received the ball from Matty and controlled and turned his defender in knots, he then ran dribbling through the defence and made it round three players before the Pirates keeper bravely came out and managed to block Owen's run and deflect the ball away from the goal, only for Matty to put the ball in the back of the net with the keeper still trying to get back into position.

The Pirates then started to put some great moves together and they exploited some spaces in our midfield and quickly gained two goals back before half time.

The scores were even going in for half time.

The second half started with the game flowing end to end and the kids on both sides showing some great football and also great spirit. Hesketh were first to edge ahead when Owen received a long ball from William the keeper and controlled it first time and turned his defender again and thundered a right footed shot into the top corner, which made him dance around with joy.(And Tim and myself!). The Pirates used their substitutes wisely and unfortunately we had no substitutes today so the pressure and pace finally got to us and the Pirates pinned us into our own half for long periods of time. The defending by George and Zak was brilliant again with last second rescue challenges and critical slide tackles, they were again excellent at the back. The Pirates would not relent and they quickly scored 3 more goals to make it 3-5. William in the Hesketh Bank goal made numerous excellent saves and heroic blocks to save us from a bigger defeat. Taking goal kicks off the floor is new to the team this year and we struggled to get the ball out of our own half as we grew tired, so we will work on that in training.

Man of the Match and the Captains armband went to Owen for his best performance for the club(chosen by Tim the Assistant Manager), his control and touch were excellent and his runs with ball caused the Pirates plenty of trouble. William was a close second with some excellent saves in the second half.

Overall it was a really good example of junior football, very competitive but played with respect and appreciation of the other players. The Pirates are a very good example of how a team should behave, including the supporters and parents. Well done Pirates.

Goal Scorers = Owen 2, Matty 1

Man of the Match = Owen

Pre Season Running totals;

Goals: Owen 3, Matty 2, Liam 1, Sam 1, Zak 1.

Man of the Match: Liam 1, Owen 1.

Totals goals scored: 8

Total goals conceded: 5

Goal Difference: +3

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9th August 2009 - FRIENDLY - Hesketh Bank 5-0 Lostock Hall

This was our first official friendly game against similar opposition from the same league so we were really looking for a good performance to get a feeling what the season could hold for us. Both teams were eager to get started on sunny Sunday and the tempo of the game was very high considering it was our first real run out. We had only 7 players so there were no substitutes available, which meant 40 minutes of running for the team with no rest.

George Sergeant started off as Captain as he received the armband for his man of the match performance on the last day of last season. After the first couple of minutes it was apparent that Hesketh Bank had the upper hand and Lostock couldn't get out of their own half. The pressure being applied and determination to win the ball back was a real pleasure to watch. The pace never really relented and the pressure gave way to goals a plenty with Hesketh Bank hitting 5 with no reply from Lostock Hall.

The pick of the goals was defender Zak Nelson's epic run from his defensive position up the whole length of the pitch and round numerous opposition players, it was a cracker and really got the home crowd buzzing. (Apart from his mum, Alison who had bet him 5 that he couldn't score today). The other goal scorers were Matty Freer, who dominated the centre of midfield in his new role as midfield general, Owen Kilburn who is linking up nicely as a front man with his midfield colleagues and starting to show the form he produces in training, Sam Freer who is enjoying his first few run out's in team football and is improving every week and also provided two assists, and Liam Mason who played right midfield and received the captains arm band for his man of the match performance. Liam never gave a ball up and chased everything he could, he is also new to positional football and is learning quickly.

It must also be mentioned that William Smith in goal made 3 quality saves during the game, although he didn't have that much work to do he managed to keep his concentration and keep the clean sheet which is always a big plus point.

So well done guys the performance was outstanding and Tim (assistant manager) and myself couldn't be more pleased with the whole teams efforts.

Goal scorers = Zak Nelson, Matty Freer, Owen Kilburn, Sam Freer, Liam Mason

MoM = Liam Mason

Big thanks to all the parents and supporters as the support really lifted the players and made the day even better for them.

Also big thanks to Paul Sergeant for offering to Referee the game.

And last but not least, thanks to Daryl for making a relentless effort to mark out the pitch at Guide Road, your efforts are appreciated.

Next Game is against ‘Preston Pirates' at Guide Road on Sunday 23 rd August 11am.


	MATCH REPORTS 4th October 2009 - Hesketh Bank 2-4 Gillibrand After an impressive performance last week the kids were looking forward to another game and we knew that Gillibrand had been performing really well so we needed to be on form. The game started at a fast pace and again we had an end to end home game for the fans at Guide road. Gillibrands were the first to score when their striker was able to latch onto a lose ball and got in between William in goal and our defense and he poked to ball into the goal for 0-1. We restarted and really went for Gillibrands and their keeper made a few brilliant and important saves from Matthew and George. Gillibrands then passed a wonderful move together and released their little striker who whizzed through into space to slot another passed William. We seemed to drop our heads in disbelief and the punished us again as we were a bit sleepy in midfield, the scored just before half time to make it 0-3. The second half started and we re-shaped into a 2-4 system so the midfield was tighter, this meant Owen would drop from attack into the middle of the park. Within a minute we were rewarded when a cross field pass was picked up by Liam who passed to George and then Owen who controlled the ball in the penalty area and turned his defender to shoot, but the defender whipped his legs from under him. The ref pointed straight to the penalty spot. Matthew Freer took the penalty which the keeper saved onto the post but Matthew collected the rebound to make it 1-3. Minutes later we were attacking again and the ball rebounded of a defender to Owen on the outside of the area who hit his shot first time through the defense, this wrong footed the keeper and the ball sailed into the far corner to make it 2-4. Gillibrands did not sit back they started attacking even more and William made some great saves especially when he was 1 on 1 with the Gillibrands attackers, he was really having a great second half. Eventually the pressure and quality showed and Gillibrands scored again with a goal mouth scramble and the ball crept over the line to make it 2-4. A great spectators game with some wonderful football. Final Result = 2-4 Defeat MOM = William for an amazing second half performance in goal, he listed to his coaches advice and it paid off for him. Scorers = Matthew Freer 1 and Owen Kilburn 1. __________________________________________________________ 27th September 2009 - Lostock Hall Black 0-7 Hesketh Bank With 3 defeats so far this season the kids were really anxious to get themselves a win and they had played Lostock Hall in a pre season friendly, so we knew a few of their players. The game started and immedialetly we asserted ourselves on the game and we pushed forward trying to break down the Lostock midfield. We started passing really well creating numerous chances on goal which the Lostock keeper was equal to, he puleld off some great early saves. Hesketh just seemed to really have the desire to win this game and they pushed forward again and again looking for the break through, Matthew and George and Owen had great stikes saved by the keeper and this resulted in numeorus corner kicks. Zak decided that he would take this corner kick and with 10 minutes gone he whipped in a corner which eluded everyone and curled into the goal to make it 0-1, a superb strike. This was all that Hesketh needed to pick up the pace that little bit more and the kids just seemed to click and realise that they could play passing football together, which was really rewarding to watch as a coach. Again the Lostock keepr made some great saves and another corner was required which Zak demanded was his. He swung another one in from the left which Owen managed to meet on the half volley for a great side foot tap in. 0-2 and a few minuntes later Owen grabbed another poachers goal when the keeper saved a shot from George and Owen followed in and slotted into the corner to make it 0-3. The 4th goal came soon after and it was the goal of the season for me as a coach, Matty passed from his own half to Owen on the edge of the Lostock area and Owen took a touch with his back to goal and George overlapped him and shouted for the ball and Owen flicked it over his and the defenders head to leave George through on goal with the keeper to beat and George blasted into the top corner to make it 0-4. The score was 0-4 at half time and we were able to make some substitutions to keep people fresh. The Game restarted and Lostock really tried to break us down but Zak Nelson was invincible in defense, he cleared up every lose ball and stopped every attack he simply was having a great game, unfortunately for Lostock. Again we settled on the ball and passed well from defense to midfield and again George broke through to steal the ball off a Lostock defender and he finished into the bottom corner, to make it 0-5 with 26 minutes gone. We had numerous chances again saved by the tremendous Lostcok keeper who was bravely stopping shot after shot, he was a great asset to the team, but he was to be beaten again by Zak who received a rebound from a blocked shot and he drilled the ball into the corner of the goal from the edge of the area to make it 0-6, the big smile and red face said it all! Not to be outdone the ever faithful Matty freer decided it was his turn and after a flowing passing move between 3 Hesketh players he was able to finish from close range to make it 0-7. An outstanding result for us and our first win of the season, the kids played with spirit and sportsmanship, it was a pleasure. Final Result = 0-7 WIN MOM= Zak Nelson for an outstanding defensive master class and 2 goals! Scorers=Matthew Freer 1, Owen Kilburn 2, George Sergeant 2, Zak Nelson 2. ___________________________________________________________ 20th September 2009 - Tarleton Red 5-1 Hesketh Bank This was the game that we all wanted to do well in. The local derby game against the next village Tarleton. It was a lovely sunny day to play football and conditions couldn't of been nicer for both teams. Both teams started off really quickly but struggled to find accurate passes, I think the excitement of the occasion was playing a part here. With 4 minutes gone Hesketh took the lead when a passing move between Owen George and finally Matty saw matty put the ball through the Tarleton keepers legs for a 1-0 lead. This seemed to wake Tarleton up and they came back from the restart with all guns blazing, Hesketh were simply played th r ough again and again and again with some excellent triangle passing moves( I can tell Mark G reenwoods been working on that in their training sessions), Tarelton came at us in waves and before we knew it we were 4-1 down going into half time. The pace of the game seemed to really surprise us and we struggled to get passes together. The second half we regrouped and started to play a bit better but we still struggled against a very organised unit and Tarleton had numerous chances again but William in goal pulled off some excellent saves to keep the score down in the second half. Tarleton managed to score another with a flowing passing move, which they deserved from their pressure. Overall we just struggled breaking down the passing moves that Tarleton put together and we jst didn't manage to get the ball down and passing ourselves as we did against Astley last week. Final Result = 5-1 defeat MOM=William for some outstanding and brave saves in goal. Scorers=Matthew Freer. ___________________________________________________________ 13th September 2009 - Hesketh Bank 2-6 Astley & Buckshaw The first home game of the season was always one we had looked forward to as we knew we would have great support from the home crowd and they didn't let us down at all. The game started off at a fast pace with both sides passing well and sounding each oher out, there were few chnaces in the first quarter and the teams seemed to cancel each other out. After 9 minutes Hesketh took the lead with a great shot from inside the area from Matthew Freer making it a deserved 1-0 lead as we had just started really passing well and troubling the Astley defence. This was a short lived advnatage as Astley responded in the best way possible and quickly grabbed two quick goals back, both goals came from misundstandings between the goalkeeper and a defender. From the centre kick we immediatley attacked and George Sergeant scored a well desereved goal with a strike into the top corner from just inside the area. Astley then applied the pressure even more and a couple of substitution seemed to strengthen their team and by half time the score was 2-4 to Astley. The second half started with some great passing moves from both sides and Astley scored a well worked goal, which made it 2-5. Again the play continued with both teams attacking end to end chances and we managed to score again with Matthew Freer dribbling through the Astley defence and around the keeper for an excellent goal, it was now 3-5. This didn't stop Astley who came back for more and managed to score another gaol before the end of the match making it 3-6. It was a really well contested game with some great football, consdiering these kids are only 8 years old. Final Score = 3-6 defeat MOM= George Sergeant for being a relentless and tireless player and not missing a challenge the whole game. Scorers = Matthew Freer 2, George Sergeant 1. ___________________________________________________________ 6th September 2009 - Euxton Villa Black 7-2 Hesketh Bank This was the first game of the season for the under 9's and it was a difficult fixture against a team we knew would be title contenders. We unfortunately had no substitutes today so it was up to the lucky 7 to try and get something from this game. The match started off quite evenly with no real chances in the first few minutes as the kids tried to find their feet and get comfortable on the ball, Euxton did start to apply pressure down the left wing with a very good number '8' running at Sam and Amelia and looking dangerous. This proved to be our weakness in the first half and repeated attacks down the left wing resulted in numerous chances going the home teams way. Try as we did we couldn't clear our lines and get the ball out of defence for very long and this really hurt us for the last ten minutes of the first half with Euxton coming in 4-0 up at half time. After a brief team talk we changed our shape from a 2:3:1 system to a 2:4 system to try and pack the midfield and stop the pressure on our defence and this seemed to work better for us. The game started to flow from both ends with both teams attacking in waves. Matthew Freer then started to assert himself on the game and found room in the midfield to start breaking away with the ball, he counter attacked numerous times and peppered the Euxon goal with 4 quality shots 3 of which just skimmed the goal posts and the keeper saved the other. Hesketh finally got a reward with a breakaway goal from Matthew Freer which he deserved for all his close efforts. Hesketh quickly scored another goal when the ball broke in midfield and Matthew passed to Owen who managed to pass straight through the Euxton defense and release Liam who finished low into the bottom corner. The score was 4-2 and we were playing better but still under lots of pressure and eventually we tired and Euxton's subs made the difference allowing them to score 3 more goals. It was a spirited first performance against a quality junior team and we did really well to push them in the second half, they were just a better side. Final Score = 7-2 defeat MOM = Matthew Freer for some excellent counter attacking football. Scorers = Liam Mason & Matthew Freer ___________________________________________________________ 23rd August 2009 - FRIENDLY - Hesketh Bank 3-5 Preston Pirates After the great result two weeks ago the under 9's were looking forward to trying to bring that form into this home game against Preston Pirates. The game started and almost immediately Hesketh Bank broke through the Pirates midfield and launched an attack on goal, two neat passes between Matty and Owen left Owen with a shooting opportunity and he dispatched the ball low into the bottom corner from close range, making it 1-0 with a minute gone. The game continued with the home team pressing forward again and again keeping the pirates in their own half and the passing and movement from Liam, Matty, Sam and Owen continued to cause the Pirates problems. With 10 minutes gone Owen received the ball from Matty and controlled and turned his defender in knots, he then ran dribbling through the defence and made it round three players before the Pirates keeper bravely came out and managed to block Owen's run and deflect the ball away from the goal, only for Matty to put the ball in the back of the net with the keeper still trying to get back into position. The Pirates then started to put some great moves together and they exploited some spaces in our midfield and quickly gained two goals back before half time. The scores were even going in for half time. The second half started with the game flowing end to end and the kids on both sides showing some great football and also great spirit. Hesketh were first to edge ahead when Owen received a long ball from William the keeper and controlled it first time and turned his defender again and thundered a right footed shot into the top corner, which made him dance around with joy.(And Tim and myself!). The Pirates used their substitutes wisely and unfortunately we had no substitutes today so the pressure and pace finally got to us and the Pirates pinned us into our own half for long periods of time. The defending by George and Zak was brilliant again with last second rescue challenges and critical slide tackles, they were again excellent at the back. The Pirates would not relent and they quickly scored 3 more goals to make it 3-5. William in the Hesketh Bank goal made numerous excellent saves and heroic blocks to save us from a bigger defeat. Taking goal kicks off the floor is new to the team this year and we struggled to get the ball out of our own half as we grew tired, so we will work on that in training. Man of the Match and the Captains armband went to Owen for his best performance for the club(chosen by Tim the Assistant Manager), his control and touch were excellent and his runs with ball caused the Pirates plenty of trouble. William was a close second with some excellent saves in the second half. Overall it was a really good example of junior football, very competitive but played with respect and appreciation of the other players. The Pirates are a very good example of how a team should behave, including the supporters and parents. Well done Pirates. Goal Scorers = Owen 2, Matty 1 Man of the Match = Owen Pre Season Running totals; Goals: Owen 3, Matty 2, Liam 1, Sam 1, Zak 1. Man of the Match: Liam 1, Owen 1. Totals goals scored: 8 Total goals conceded: 5 Goal Difference: +3 ___________________________________________________________ 9th August 2009 - FRIENDLY - Hesketh Bank 5-0 Lostock Hall This was our first official friendly game against similar opposition from the same league so we were really looking for a good performance to get a feeling what the season could hold for us. Both teams were eager to get started on sunny Sunday and the tempo of the game was very high considering it was our first real run out. We had only 7 players so there were no substitutes available, which meant 40 minutes of running for the team with no rest. George Sergeant started off as Captain as he received the armband for his man of the match performance on the last day of last season. After the first couple of minutes it was apparent that Hesketh Bank had the upper hand and Lostock couldn't get out of their own half. The pressure being applied and determination to win the ball back was a real pleasure to watch. The pace never really relented and the pressure gave way to goals a plenty with Hesketh Bank hitting 5 with no reply from Lostock Hall. The pick of the goals was defender Zak Nelson's epic run from his defensive position up the whole length of the pitch and round numerous opposition players, it was a cracker and really got the home crowd buzzing. (Apart from his mum, Alison who had bet him 5 that he couldn't score today). The other goal scorers were Matty Freer, who dominated the centre of midfield in his new role as midfield general, Owen Kilburn who is linking up nicely as a front man with his midfield colleagues and starting to show the form he produces in training, Sam Freer who is enjoying his first few run out's in team football and is improving every week and also provided two assists, and Liam Mason who played right midfield and received the captains arm band for his man of the match performance. Liam never gave a ball up and chased everything he could, he is also new to positional football and is learning quickly. It must also be mentioned that William Smith in goal made 3 quality saves during the game, although he didn't have that much work to do he managed to keep his concentration and keep the clean sheet which is always a big plus point. So well done guys the performance was outstanding and Tim (assistant manager) and myself couldn't be more pleased with the whole teams efforts. Goal scorers = Zak Nelson, Matty Freer, Owen Kilburn, Sam Freer, Liam Mason MoM = Liam Mason Big thanks to all the parents and supporters as the support really lifted the players and made the day even better for them. Also big thanks to Paul Sergeant for offering to Referee the game. And last but not least, thanks to Daryl for making a relentless effort to mark out the pitch at Guide Road, your efforts are appreciated. Next Game is against ‘Preston Pirates' at Guide Road on Sunday 23 rd August 11am.