A beautiful cold yet sunny Sunday morning today, as we saw Burton Adults qualify for their Cup final with a thrilling penalty shoot-out.
As our under 13's took to the field an air of nervousness, yet excitement could be felt, the team did their best to show composure against Dunton and Broughton a couple of divisions higher than us, but as soon as the whistle blew this all fell to the side, we attacked applying as much pressure as we could and show this is our day and we intend to win.
Twelve minutes in and we managed to take the lead with a stunning goal from Isaiah, as the game progressed the boys dominated, unfortunately, 20 minutes in and off a deflection just over the halfway line, it left us on the backfoot playing catchup as the opposition tucked away a goal.
minutes later a series of one-twos from Hamed, Isaiah and Oscar found Hamed on the edge of the righthand side of the box to curl in a scorcher to the top right corner.
once again in the dying embers of the first half, the opposition managed to gain a free kick 30 yards out, fortunately, a finger-tip save by Kaamil left a loose ball in the box and they managedThe second to toe it in for an equalizer.
Second half came and Dunton from the off caught us a little off guard as we were just getting into shape as we had changed our formation to apply more pressure through the middle. Sure as anything they went ahead.
The boys seemed to show no fear from that minute onwards and mounted a flurry of attacks with Isaiah scoring another goal 15 minutes in. Five minutes later Hamed bagged his second giving us our fourth.
Defensively We were solid even with both center backs carrying knee injuries, Elijah, Rayeen, Mohammad and Fetrat showed good strength and played some good balls forward.
Goalkeeper Kaamil played well and made some fine saves and warmed into the game bossing the defense.
In a midfield that was a big battleground with Rhys, Osayd, Abass, Jake and Mikaael all had to work hard with runs forward to support the attackers and running back to help the defense.
Up front Oscar, Isaiah and Hamed shone today with lots of fast passes and runs from all angles and shot upon shot.
Fortunately for the opposition, they had a fine young agile goalkeeper who helped keep the score down.
Great win today sending these boys into the semifinals, they worked hard as a unit and soldiered on together as a unit.
Under 9's semi-final was away to Royce Rangers. The day started with a few messages between Matt and Andy discussing whether they were more nervous about this game or the Spurs v Man City game on later that day. As it turned out they were laser-focused on Loughborough Phoenix! A lovely day greeted the team when we arrived in Oakham for our match against Royce Rangers. It’s fair to say we all felt a few nerves. The first quarter was tense with not a lot between the teams.
In the second quarter, all hell broke loose with Phoenix losing two quick goals before we got back into the game. First Ollie slotted in a great goal from a tight angle. Then on the stroke of half-time, Zac intercepted the ball, ran with it and scored a cracking goal to equalize! There was a stunning save from Joseph.
Some excellent harrying from Vinnie and Harris who put in a great performance marauding up and down the left wing. Into the second half and it remained 2 -2 as the third quarter ended. Harry shoring up the defense with some great tackles and Joshua now in goal making some decisive contributions. Into the last quarter and it was all to play for. Midway through the quarter Dexter picked up the ball and ran from deep inside his half down the left wing to the touchline. Crossed it in and bang! George volleyed it in for a brilliant winner! The last few moments saw Connie make some great blocks to deny the opposition an equalizer. The whistle blew and we were able to celebrate! A FANTASTIC performance. We are so proud of the team. Thanks to all the parents for your support. Bring on the final.
Thanks for the Undert 9 blog Matt.
All in all a massive day for Loughborough Phoenix Football Club today, with one team progressing to the finals and a second into the semifinals, we are fast becoming a force in the area.
With the hard work the children are putting in the rewards are starting to come, we now just have one or two last battles to finish and we can bring home the first of the trophies for the Phoenix Cabinet.
I am so proud of all the work that has gone into these teams and the pride I have in the teams as they have given full-on commitment to win.
Well done everyone, special thanks to all our helpers and to our fine Phoenix fans.
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