U14s York 3-0 Derby

A grey, sodden miserable day at 22 acres. Our only hope for a splash of colour in this drab landscape was down to our players. It was not long after the referee blew the whistle that the torch paper was lit. Ellis Cattaneo passed out of midfield to the right wing, Mathew Dawes picked the ball up on the touchline and drove past a static Derby defender before sending in a low cross. Kaiden Butler met the cross with a cheeky instep flick, although goal bound a toe punt made sure the ball crossed the line. 1-0.

Adam Guilfoyle, Kaiden and Ellis maintained a strong presence in the midfield and with 10 minutes gone Adam fed the ball to Mathew Dawes, on the touchline. Rounding the defence firing in a low cross, that struck the far post. Kaiden Butler followed in for a simple tap in. 2-0.

Creative play from Adam and Ellis feeding the wings. Mathew and Archie Colley sending crosses into striker Joe Sidebottom and Kaiden. As the half went on Derby did create opportunities to play the ball forward, it was the solid defensive work from Ollie, Brookes-Humphey, Will Hotson, Evan Turbine and Jacob Batty that denied any of the visitor’s attacks.

On 24 minutes a Derby striker broke through, Evan Turbine with a sturdy tackle preventing a 1v1 with the York keeper Louis Powell. The referee saw it as a foul and awarded a free kick 5 yds outside the penalty area. Derby failed to make most of their opportunity and York defending in numbers cleared their lines. The referee brought the half to a close at 2-0.

Derby came out for the second half with a little more drive taking the game to York.

Again, Will and Evan controlled the back line and thwarted Derby of any chances. This gave the wing backs, Tom Coy and Jacob Batty the chance to push up field linking with the midfield and wingers. After one foray Jacob passed to winger Callum Thorpe who set Kaiden up for a long range shot. The Derby goalkeeper failing to deal with the high ball, getting two hands to it he was unable to stop it crossing the goal line. A few protests from the Derby defence, the referee indicated that the whole ball had crossed the line and awarded the goal. 3-0.

York carried on playing dominant football and creating half chances, but the score stayed

3-0 until the referee brought the game to a close.

Despite the conditions it was a very impressive, all round team performance. The best to date.

Today’s MOTM could have been awarded to a number of players in the squad.

But who can deny Kaiden Butler’s for his hatrick.