YOUNGSTARS ON FORM AGAIN

MYS Black Stripes 5 - 1 Pencaitland Yellow (20Sep08)

Pencaitland brought a depleted squad to Wallyford today, following a couple of late call offs - but they proved to be strong opponents with a number of great tacklers throughout their team. The visitors put the Youngstars under pressure right from the start, and Innes (playing in goal for the whole match) was forced into a couple of saves early on. However, the Youngstars opened the scoring following some great footwork from Jason out on the left wing. He then cut a great pass in to Lewis who had his shot saved by the diving keeper. The ball then broke kindly to Harvey who hammered it into the back of the net.

Pencaitland equalised early in the second period, when Innes was unable to hold onto a strong shot from their striker. This gave Pencaitland a boost and they kept the ball in the Youngstars half for most of the quarter. Innes kept them out with a couple of excellent diving saves, improving his confidence as a replacement goalkeeper now that Kyle has left the squad. The Youngstars restored their lead following some clever play by Lewis, who had won the ball from a Pencaitland kick-out. He dribbled out towards the left wing, then cut onto his right foot and fired the ball into the top corner.

Sam was used in defence again today, and (as in the previous game) stood out with a brilliant performance. His tackling was strong, his passing was accurate, and his willingness to track back was really needed by the team. Indeed, he was involved in the team's third goal when he won a great tackle in his own half and passed the ball to Lewis, who then drilled it into the penalty box. Calum ran onto it and made a nice first-touch pass to Jason, who skipped round the defender and blasted the ball past the diving keeper. Pencaitland lost their confidence at this point and the Youngstars pounced quickly with another two goals. Lewis had the ball on the half way line, then dribbled past three Pencaitland players before calmly slotting it into the bottom corner of the goals. Then Jason found space with the ball down by the corner flag on the left wing and crossed it towards Calum who knocked it into the net with a nice first-touch strike.

In the final quarter, some fantastic defending by Mark kept Pencaitland at bay and his passing set up many attacks for the Youngstars. In particular, Josh had an excellent game out on the right hand side, showing some great dribbling skills and firing in lots of accurate crosses. Morgan, on the left hand side, once again showed his usual determination to get up and down the pitch and is proving to be a very useful midfielder. No goals in the final period, but some great passing football was on display and the team walked away with a victory - but more importantly, another great team performance.

Teamsheet: Innes, Mark, Sam, Josh, Harvey, Lewis, Morgan, Jason, Calum

Scorers: Harvey, Lewis (2), Jason, Calum

HAT-TRICK HARVEY!

MYS Black Stripes 7 - 1 Longniddry Villa (6Sep08)

A freezing cold morning for today's match, but the Youngstars got the home crowd warmed up right from the start with an early goal from Jason. Josh won the ball deep in his own half and launched the ball forward, against the wind, over the Longniddry defence. Jason had burst through from midfield, collected the ball, and then calmly stroked it past the advancing keeper. With Kyle unavailable today, Innes played in goals for the first 45 minutes and made a number of good saves - one in particular where he had to stretch high into the left hand corner of the goals to save a great Longniddry effort. However, Longniddry managed to score an equaliser after a high ball into the box forced another great save from Innes, but the ball was deflected out to an unmarked striker who slotted the ball into the net.

Playing with the wind in the second 15 minutes was much easier, and Josh hammered a cracking shot into the goals from well outside the box to put the Youngstars back in front. Jason then hit a shot that cannoned off the cross-bar, and Calum did the same with the rebound... the ball fell straight into the hands of a Longniddry defender who was as surprised as anyone to find himself clutching the ball in the penalty area. Sam was given the opportunity to score from the resulting penalty. His shot was saved by the keeper, but he was quick enough to get onto the rebound and smash the ball into the back of the net. This was undoubtedly Sam's best ever game for the team and, following the confidence boost from his goal, he was all over the pitch with strong tackles, excellent dribbling and great passing.

With the wind against us in the third quarter, we needed Mark's excellent defending ability to keep Longniddry at bay. We were also grateful for the strength of his passing as he made numerous clearances right up the pitch. He also managed to get forward and had a great effort at goal go narrowly wide. Jason and Harvey both hit the cross-bar as Longniddry were put under real pressure. The fourth goal eventually came though, after a scrap in the box and Calum was, typically, on hand to poke the ball into the net. Then a superb corner from Mark was met on the volley by Harvey in the middle of the box, and the ball flew right over the keeper into the goals.

Morgan had yet another strong game in midfield during the final quarter, and a fine pass found Harvey who blasted the ball through the keeper's legs. Morgan was also involved in the game's final goal as he won the ball and passed to Sam, who turned his defender and passed to Innes. Innes looked up and slotted the ball into Harvey's path, who wasted no time in striking it past the keeper to complete his hat-trick. This rounded up another brilliant match for the boys, and it's great to see their confidence improve even further.

Teamsheet: Innes, Mark, Morgan, Sam, Josh, Harvey, Jason, Calum

Goal scorers: Jason, Josh, Sam, Calum, Harvey (3)