Mid Lancs Colts u10 Premiere League    Sunday 4^th March   Kick-off 10.am

Due to the recent bad weather this “away” fixture was switched to Euxton. Apart from a howling gale, the rain held off and the pitch was in a good condition. Barney was unavailable for this match so Nicky played on the left wing and Liam switched to striker. Euxton kicked off with the wind behind them and soon had Ripon under pressure. Liam, Robert and Nicky were stringing passes together, latching onto some excellent passing moves from Bradley and Kyle. Shots were soon flying in and everyone pushed forward. Ripon conceded a number of corners which produced some excellent saves from the visiting keeper. The late runs into the box from Matthew and Kyle unsettled the Ripon defence and it was from one of these that we scored. The ball fell to Nicky who shot goalwards, the keeper produced a fine save but couldn’t hold it, Nicky first to react ,forced a block from the keeper who bravely dived at his feet,, it was a 50/50 ball and Nicky poked it home, unfortunately injuring the keeper in the process. The keeper  was clearly hurt , unable to continue and was substituted, we hope it was nothing serious. Anyway, the boys didn’t let this distract them, and were soon producing some excellent passing football, creating chance after chance, with the sub keeper being called upon to produce some good saves. Ripon tried to create chances but were reduced to playing long balls which Kyle and Matthew dealt with comfortably. Bradley working hard in midfield released Nicky on the left who crossed for Robert to half volley home for number 2. Again following some great approach work, Robert fed Liam on the edge of the box who controlled it turned and struck a left foot shot home 3-0.

Half time and now the boys were  up against the wind. Ripon kicked off and were soon pumping balls into our box, Tommo having been a virtual spectator up to now, had to be on his toes producing a number of fine stops. Kyle fed Robert on the right who went past 3 players pushed on into the box and slotted home 4-0. The boys were really having to work hard in the harsh elements and Andy gave Bradley a rest with Ryan (Razza) coming on to play in a striker role. Latching onto an excellent pass from Razza Robert burst into the box again and struck home number 5 for his hat trick. Liam made way for Dan who filled in at the back helping to thwart the wind assisted attacks from Ripon.

The rain came as the final whistle blew, much to the relief of everyone. A really excellent performance from both sets of boys, playing in terrible conditions. The boys really played some excellent flowing football and showed the opposition why they are sitting at the top of their league. 3 games to go , keep it going boys, playing like this you can do it!!!