Bill Martin’sMatch of the Week Under-9 Abbeytown 10 Stanwix 0

Last updated at 14:43, Wednesday, 09 December 2009

Abbeytown are having a very good season having beaten Northbank by eight goals to nil the previous week, and they were just too good for a plucky Stanwix team who were without their regular goalkeeper.

Abbeytown Under-9’s Dan Pearson, centre, sprints clear

Luke Graham, who normally plays in an outfield position, went into goal and he did extremely well under the circumstances.

The game was played at Wigton’s Infants School and was refereed by Abbie Burton, a Nelson Thomlinson School pupil, who also plays for Abbeytown Under-16s Girls football team.

The Abbeytown players were all comfortable on the ball and their passing game was quick and decisive.

Nathan Nelson had a fierce shot saved by Graham following god work from Daniel Pearson and Adam Gordon.

Nelson again looked threatening, when he burst down the right, but Aaron Malia timed his tackle to perfection and the ball went out for a throw-in.

The Stanwix players showed their attacking intentions when a pass from Matthew Etheridge found Aidan Riddell on the right touch-line. The Stanwix striker made ground before cutting in to the penalty area where he was dispossessed by Pearson who, in-turn, found Nelson with a long raking pass.

The speedy winger latched onto the ball and then hit an unstoppable right foot shot into the top corner of the net to give his team a one-nil lead.

Within minutes Abbeytown were two goals up and again it was a peach of a goal. Logan Dixon passed the ball to Nelson whose perfect cross enabled Gordon to find the net with a bullet header.

Abbeytown had the bit between their teeth but the Stanwix players put up some stout resistance with Graham saving from Nelson and Malia heading clear a shot from Dixon.

Malia was having a good game for Stanwix and he was a trifle unfortunate when he lost out to Nelson who immediately cut in from the right before cutting the ball back to Michael Thomlinson who scored from close range.

A minute later Thomlinson netted his second when he came in at the back post to head home an inch perfect centre from Nelson.

Malia and Etheridge both made good tackles to keep out Nelson and Thomlinson but they were powerless to prevent, first Nelson and then Gordon, scoring with a well struck shots.

In a brief respite Luke Bailey and Jude Nixon combined to get the ball to Liddell who made ground on the right before sending over a high cross which was well taken by Abbeytown goalkeeper Sean Haughan.

The move was again repeated with Nixon passing to Bailey who then found Riddell but the striker tried a shot which narrowly missed the target.

Abbeytown regained the initiative and Nelson forced a corner off Malia which led to the seventh goal.

Nelson’s corner kick was perfectly flighted into the danger area and the ball was volleyed home by Dixon.

The Stanwix players were playing with true grit and Liddell made a determined run from the half way line but his final cross went behind the goal. Nixon made a good tackle to dispossess Gordon but Abbeytown gained another corner on the right which led to their eighth goal.

The corner was again taken by Nelson and a scramble ensued which led to the ball being cleared to Finlay Graham whose low shot eluded the diving Luke Graham to roll agonisingly over the line.

Stanwix began the second half on the attack with Nixon forcing a corner which was cleared by Gordon and play travelled to the other end where Luke Graham saved from Dixon. Stanwix were being encouraged by their followers and they responded well with Liddell having a shot saved by Haughan who, in turn, delivered a mighty clearance deep into the opposing half.

Nelson gave chase – showing a clean pair of heels to the Stanwix defenders – and he finished with a well placed shot well out of Graham’s reach for his hat-trick.

Dixon scored shortly after to make it 10-0 but it was the visitors who made the late running and a clever low cross from Nixon just needed a touch but his colleagues were unable to connect with the ball and it was eventually cleared by Ethan Watters.

Riddell was determined to score a goal when he unleashed a terrific right foot drive but Gordon headed clear to keep his goal intact.

The Stanwix players did try hard but Abbeytown scored some great goals particularly in the first half.

Abbeytown: Sean Haughan, Daniel Pearson, Logan Dixon, Finlay Graham, Theo Manahera, Nathan Nelson, Ethan Watters, Adam Gordon and Michael Thomlinson.

Stanwix: Luke Graham, Matthew Etheridge, Aaron Malia, Luke Bailey, Jude Nixon and Aidan Riddell.

Referee: Abbie Burton

Man of the Match: Nathan Nelson, right mid-field, Abbeytown: Nathan gave a terrific performance scoring a hat-trick and providing the crosses for five more goals. He was capable of beating a man, was very quick and he packed a powerful right foot shot.

First published at 11:25, Wednesday, 09 December 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk