On Sunday 15th November 2009 Highbury under 10’s (A) played away to Worton & Chev Badgers who were 2nd in the league, unbeaten and a point ahead of Highbury in 3rd position.
The game started with Highbury taking control from the start and it was the away team who took an early lead after a foul on Louis Cole. The ref played the advantage as the ball fell to Joe Hardy who controlled the ball, looked up and struck a great shot through the defence and into the bottom right corner of the net 0-1. The game was evenly balanced and it was Worton who threatened next from a free kick that just went wide of the post. Highbury were not about to give up the lead without a fight and from a quick throw in by Thomas McFerran, Louis Cole controlled the ball with the outside of his right foot and setting himself up for a cross all in one movement leaving his defender standing in awe, he delivered a perfect ball into the box but unfortunately the Highbury players were not as quick to react as Louis was and a great chance went begging.
Highbury continued to flood forward with the midfield working hard in attack and it was Luke Woods who tested the away goal keeper with a shot that was pushed around the post for a corner.
Worton rarely threatened the Highbury goal, whenever they tried to penetrate the defence they found the Highbury defence in stubborn form. Chay Andrews mopped up cleverly, Adam Clark showed good composure at times and distributed the ball forward to his midfield team mates whilst under pressure and Harry ‘The Rock’ Guerri-Fear was taking no prisoners with his ‘it’s the ball or you attitude’ and to be fair his tackling was strong and timed to perfection 99% of the time.
As Highbury continued to flurry forward and put the home side under a great deal of pressure, they should have scored a 2nd ,but Luke Woods unusually hurried his shot and the ball flew over the crossbar, where more accuracy and less power would have seen the ball go into the empty net.
Highbury played some good football at times and it was Adam Clark who won the ball in defence who set Luke Woods away down the left flank. Luke then crossed a first time ball in to the box towards Joe Hardy who was unfortunate not to connect with the ball properly as his shot went just wide. The half time score remained at 0-1.
The 2nd half started with Worton trying hard to keep there unbeaten run intact but found Liam Gibbens saving easily from the long range efforts that the away team resorted to.
Joe Hardy then found himself out on the right flank this time and drilled the ball across to the advancing Highbury players, but it was the goal keeper who jumped up to save the ball and resulted in palming the ball into his own net 0-2.
Straight from the kick off Worton attacked and found some of the Highbury players ball watching and as a shot came in towards the goal, it deflected off Harry’s shin and into the net to make the score 1-2.
Highbury were not feeling in the festive mood just yet and as the ball was cleared out by the home defence, the ball fell to Luke Woods who hit a magnificent strike from a distance which flew into the net giving the goalie no chance 1-3.
Worton tried desperately to get back into the game and scored there 2nd goal from a dubious refereeing decision awarding a free kick to the home team after what seemed like perfectly timed challenge from Lyndon Parmley.
Very late on a 50/50 challenge by Adam Clark was again deemed a free kick for Worton but the referee played the advantage and when Worton failed in there attempt to score, the referee then stopped play and indeed gave the free kick to Worton much to the bemusement of the Highbury management and supporting parents. However, Worton failed to score this time and it would have been such an injustice if they had.
The result moved Highbury joint 2nd in the league on goal difference with Corsham who they play this Sunday at home. A match that whoever wins will go joint top of the league with Chippenham who have played a game more should they fail to pick up any points in their game
A good result for the young Highbury players who are still not firing on all cylinders at the moment, but are playing some sublime football at times writes Kev Clark.
Team: Liam Gibbens, Adam Clark, Chay Andrews, Harry Guerri-Fear, Luke Woods, Louis Cole, Lyndon Parmley, Thomas McFerran, Joe Hardy.