Browny (3), Jenson (1), Reuben (1), Fin (1), og (1)
Another local derby, this time the opponent is Meltham. Browny and Matt go to school with most of their team, so there is a lot at stake. In pre-season Meltham had beaten us 6-2, with four of the goals coming from their superior physical presence, but it was clear from the start that Holmfirth were not going to rollover this time.
Fin scored early, getting on to a deep cross from Will. But despite dominating possession Holmfirth were unable to create many clear chances. With five minutes of the first half remaining, Meltham had their first shot on target. The ball headed for the top corner and it looked like an equaliser, but Ronnie made a spectacular one handed save, tipping it over. From the corner, Ronnie collected and moved the ball quickly to Fin, who played an early through ball which Browny raced on to and calmly slotted passed the keeper.
We started the second half at 2-0, but then had a really difficult 15 minutes. We lost shape and momentum and struggled to defend as a team and attack as a team. Arthur was resolute at the back and stopped Meltham taking advantage of our disorganisation.
The game changed on some individual brilliance by Browny. A sweet chipped corner from Jozef found Browny leaping like a salmon and heading into the roof of the net. It is rare to get headed goals at this age, let alone fantastic finishes like this.
Jenson came back onto the field and joined his buddy up front and for the next ten minutes Holmfirth ran wild. Meltham were powerless to stop the onslaught. Jenson battled hard with the big centre half and slotted an inch perfect through ball which Browny finished off for his hattrick.
The best move of the half was a series of first time passes from Chris to Reuben to Will to Jenson, who just missed finishing what would have been the goal of the season.
The 5th goal followed quickly, with a quick throw half cleared only as far as the on rushing Reuben who angled it in with his left foot from the edge of the box. A minute later, Jozef took a corner from the left, which the keeper, under pressure from Jenson, fumbled it over the goal line.
On the next attack, the keeper parried a long range shot and Jenson was on hand to squeeze the rebound into the net.
In overview, it was a strange game in three phases – the first half we won the battle, but the next quarter we nearly gave it away and then finally everything pinged into place and we were unstoppable.
Our 5th clean sheet in ten games and it’s great to get back to winning ways. Next week, for a place in the cup quarter finals, we play our toughest opponent yet, Greetland Goldstar from Division One. Let’s see how we step up to that challenge.
(U11 Red)
