PENCAITLAND TOO HOT TO HANDLE

MYS Black Stripes 1 - 11 Pencaitland Blue (7Jun08)

This was, by far, the hottest day we've played in - and Pencaitland were simply too hot for the Youngstars to deal with. Things started promisingly with a great goal from Josh. Having won the ball in the middle of the park, he played it out wide to Calum who manged to hold off his defender and lay it back. Josh quickly got it under control just outside the box and lobbed it over the keeper into the top corner. Pencaitland turned up the heat, however, and pulled one back quickly. Their star striker skipped straight through the Youngstars' defence and fired a cracking shot at goal. Kyle managed to get a hand to it, but it deflected into the net. Seconds later, Pencaitland almost scored another in exactly the same way - but this time Kyle managed to block the shot with a great save.

After that, it was all one-way traffic with Pencaitland making chance after chance. The Pencaitland striker was simply too strong, and he scored numerous others himself and set up many for his team mates.

Taking the positives out of the game, all the kids showed some elements of development. Kyle had made a few good saves before having to come off feeling ill, but Calum proved to be a more than capable replacement making some outstanding saves of his own. Mark did his usual solid defending, and was particularly good at holding off the attackers whilst waiting for support from his midfielders. Innes did well tracking back when we lost the ball and made a few brave blocks. Morgan was strong with his tackles and had a number of powerful clearances to relieve the pressure. Sam showed great determination to win the ball and look for team mates to pass to, whilst Harvey displayed his usual energy up and down the park. Josh continued to prove that he his is an exceptional midfielder, winning tackles and making great passes forward. And Lennon once again showed great ball control and tricks out on the wing.

So, despite the defeat, there was some good football on display from the Youngstars and we can look to improve on this further during training and into the next game.

Teamsheet: Kyle, Mark, Innes, Morgan, Sam, Harvey, Josh, Lennon, Calum.

Goal scorer: Josh