Highbury Under 10’s ‘A’ played in the ¼ final of the Daniel Higgs memorial Trophy when they confronted arch rivals Chippenham Town Youth on Sunday 07^th February 2010. The game was an exhibition of quality youth football as both sides played the game with real style as Highbury ran out 4 – 1 winners.

Highbury started the match playing at a real tempo and in doing so they knocked their opponents out of their stride, Highbury have developed a style of play in which the ball is moved quickly from the back, either through the creative hub of Louis Cole or using the pace of Luke Woods or Lyndon Parmley on either wing with simple short passes to feet or into space to exploit their strengths.

In the first half Cole carried the ball well and created chances for Hardy and Woods, the Chippenham keeper made excellent saves from both and somehow managed to tip a long range curling shot around the post from Cole that seemed destined for the net. Chippenham also play excellent football with their tall centre back playing the ball from deep and looking to slide through balls between the Highbury defenders to exploit their own fast forwards.  Thankfully for Highbury Adam Clark, Chay Andrews and Harry Guerri-Fear have developed a good understanding which normally ensures that if one defender commits and challenges for the ball his partner will be on hand to clear any loose ball that breaks and retain possession.

Highbury finally got the opening goal they deserved when a quick throw in by Harry Guerri-Fear was collected by Lyndon Parmley who instantly spread the play wide to Luke Woods, Woods drove forward before slipping a delightful pass through to Joe Hardy who coolly slotted past the home keeper. Chippenham responded well and nearly equalised twice only to find Liam Gibbens in fine form, one stop from a cross deflected of Lyndon Parmley seemed behind him and certain to cross the line before Gibbens athletically dived backwards and snared the ball. Highbury had other chances to extend their lead but missed two glorious opportunities to score.

The second half saw Highbury continue to dominate play and create chances, Louis Cole went on a great run which saw him carry the ball across the pitch and down the right wing, he feigned to go wider, committing the opposing defender but cut inside and unleashed a stinking shot that seemed certain to sneak under the bar until the home keeper managed to deflect the ball over the top of goal.  Highbury extended their lead when Adam Clark won another tackle in defence and cleared the ball, most of the players seemed to stop presuming the ball would go out but Joe Hardy chased a lost cause, cut back inside his defender, who fall over in the process and hurt himself, and from a tight angle fired the ball past the home keeper to make it 2 – 0.

Chippenham upped their own game and pushed Highbury back, they scored a goal when they created space down the left wing and fired a sharp ball across the goal which Gibbens was unable to hold allowing a Chippenham player to score into an empty net.  Chippenham had the momentum and poured forward looking for an equaliser however Andrew made one crucial interception and Gibbens redeemed himself with excellent anticipation and shot stopping.

Highbury responded themselves and scored the decisive third goal when Louis Cole again dribbled the ball from his own half before feeding Luke Wood who was unmarked but some distance from goal, Wood took one touch before unleashing a stunning shot that arched up and over the home keeper and just under the bar to make it 3 - 1. Unsurprisingly this knocked the stuffing out of Chippenham and Highbury controlled the remaining few minutes of the match with relative ease. They added a fourth goal when Cole capped a fine individual match with another excellent run in which he beat three players and shot across the keeper from close range, the keeper did well as he managed to get a partial block only for Joe Hardy to tap in from close range to claim his own hatrick.

This was a superb performance by Highbury who await the draw for the semi finals of the cup. They can go forward with the knowledge that despite this fine win there is room for much improvement as the team grows and continues to fulfil their potential.