U13s York 8-2 Scarborough (ESFA Rd 1)

YORK SCHOOLBOYS U13’s continued their fine early season form with an 8-2 triumph over Scarborough in Round 1 of the ESFA Cup. It was the York boys who sealed their place in the hat for Round 2 thanks to a second half rampage, which their Scarborough counterparts had no response.

York continued their fast pace starts to matches by taking early control of this one, dominating possession from the outset – it didn’t take the home side long before they poked their noses in front when some tidy interplay down the right flank between Archie Colley and Kaiden Butler ended with Butler, who thrived again in his new role, firing a dipping effort into the bottom left corner, 1-0. However, it only took a matter of moments for Scarborough to respond, their tricky forward nipping in-between the York back line before being felled inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot and the away side levelled with a strike down the middle, 1-1.

As Scarborough attempted to get a foothold in the game, York scored probably their best goal of the game – a lovely diagonal run by Jack Hancock across the defender was picked out by a perfectly weighted pass by Ellis Cattaneo, Hancock took it to the byline and chipped a lovely ball to the back post which was met by the lively Tommy Cahill, who powered his header into the roof of the net, 2-1. It was then Cahill who turned provider, as he delivered the cross to allow Dillon Meehan to get on the scoresheet for the first time this season. Cahill whipped to ball into the box and the ever reliant Meehan was there to attack the ball with a looping header which left the Scarborough keeper stranded, 3-1. York continued to pile on the pressure towards the end of the half with Kaiden Butler striking the post from distance, which was followed up by Jack Hancock who was only denied by a superb save.

HALF TIME – YORK 3-1 SCARBOROUGH

The half time instructions were to keep things tight for the first 5 minutes and then try to push on to seal the game – this didn’t quite go to plan as some smart play by the Scarborough winger ended with him cruising past two York defenders before firing into Noah Ellis’ near corner, 3-2 just after the break. Fortunately, form then on in it was mainly one way traffic. The centre half partnership of Will Hotson and Tom Algar marshalled the rest of the game excellently, protecting Noah Ellis who kept his concentration when called upon, it also allowed full backs Jack Maeer and Matty Hobson to push on and be effective attacking outlets. Kieran Clayton was dropping deeper and dictating play with some pin point passes, and it was him who created Yorks fourth. A delightful through ball to Jack Hancock, who’s pace caused the away side problems all morning, ended up with him keeping his composure before sliding the ball past to onrushing keeper, 4-2.

York were becoming deadly on the counter attack with their mix of creative players and lively forwards. Ellis Cattaneo getting in on the act after showing his versatility in the full back role. Now in central midfield, he spotted the run of Cole Gayles and fed him with a lovely ball in between the full back and centre half – Gayles took one touch then fired the ball low into the bottom right hand corner, a just reward for his tireless work rate, 5-2. As York continued to dominate, the sixth soon came. Strikes from Dillon Meehan and Jack Hancock both blocked, before Hancock got a clean strike away and the keeper could only parry into the path of Kaiden Butler who tapped the ball home, 6-2. It wasn’t long before Hancock also added to his tally – he again used his pace and was found by Dillon Meehan who slotted the ball into the back of the net, 7-2.

There was still time for York to grab another before the full time whistle, and it was Butler who completed his hat-trick. An exquisite delivery from left back Jack Maeer was met on the volley by Butler and it flew into the roof of the net, again giving their goal keeper no chance.

FULL TIME – YORK 8-2 SCARBOROUGH

Another exciting, strong team performance from York, who have now set themselves a solid platform to build on as well as ensuring they are safety into Round 2 of the ESFA Cup.

MOTM. A difficult decision as this was an outstanding team performance, but for his 3 goals 2 assists and hitting the post 5 times, for the second week running goes to Kaiden Butler.