U14s Sheffield 4-0 York

Without doubt York School Boys had the odds stacked against them in the first half, they were playing up hill, the wind was against them and even the sun was in their eyes.

Sheffield started strong and used the long ball to their advantage. Yorks back 4 of Olly B-H, Will Hotson, Evan Turbine and Tom Coy had a lot of defending to do, restricting Sheffield to half chances.

On 10 minutes Sheffield broke through the defence and beat Louis Powell on his near post. York responded by winning  the midfield battle, Adam Guilfoyle and Ellis Cattaneo pressed their opposing numbers and feeding through balls for the forward players to latch onto. Sheffield defended set pieces very well and restricted York to minor opportunities which their goal keeper dealt with easily. With a tail wind, the Sheffield keepers’ clearance, carried the ball right to the edge of Yorks penalty box where a striker took full advantage of the root one ball and a clean shot made it 2-0 after 25 minutes. Sheffield pressed hard and saves from Louis Powell, kept the score within reach at half-time.

York battled through the second half and shots from Callum Thorpe, Archie Colley and Matthew Dawes couldn’t penetrate the Sheffield goal.

Sheffield were quick on the counter attack scoring on 54 and 67 minutes. York showed a lot of spirit and character, battling to the final whistle, but unfortunately, they couldn’t make their opportunities count leaving it 4-0 to the city of steel.

MOTM Ellis Cattaneo