UNDER 11's MATCH REPORT: Codnor Boys 4 - 5 LEFC

It doesn’t get any better than this - Scoring 2 goals in the final 5 minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and record your first ever league win. Manchester United (and Allestree Juniors) will never know the depth of pleasure that we experienced on Saturday. The look on James’ face as he wheeled away from goal, hand raised in the air, said everything that needed to be said.

The Codnor pitch drops away to one corner. Some of our lads don’t have a stop button and I had visions of one or two disappearing through the hedge into the neighbouring field. Brazil once had a winger named Garrincha who had one leg longer than the other. He would have had a ball on the contours of the Codnor pitch but sadly he wasn’t available for selection on Saturday.

Given their 8-1 thumping of us earlier in the season I wouldn’t have been too surprised if the Codnor ground staff had wheeled in a cricket scoreboard to keep track of the game. For my part I’d wondered whether our best chance of sneeking something out of the game might have been to turn up in the same yellow kit as Condor. In the event we opted for blue and took along our secret weapon – a defensive coach (thank you John – did that funny tic tac sign towards the end of the game mean you wanted me to do a substitution?)

The team that made history:

Anupam, William, Sajid, Josh, Richard, Robbie, Kirk, James, Bradley, Ahmed, Cedrick, Ryan, Matthew, Kieron

Some special notes:

Anupam – One very special save in the first half. Good hands, top performance.

Sajid & William – Good full back performances.

Richard – Another unsung hero.

Josh – A hero. 100% reliable. Brilliant, simply brilliant.

Robbie – Best ever performance. Superb closing down.

Kirk – His composure on the ball was a joy to watch. Top drawer.

Ahmed – Captain Fantastic. He may only have one speed but his batteries are Duracell. Great goal, longest strike of the season (so far).

Cedrick – Couldn’t match last week’s performance but another good team effort.

Ryan – Good effort from the debut boy. Showed desire and promise.

Matthew – Threatened going down the slope but others stole the glory this week.

Kieron – A warrior. Would charge through a barn door for the cause. 2 goal hero. Promised a tenner if he scored a hat-trick, the credit crunch very nearly caught up with his Dad.

Bradley – You can knick his number 7 (Ronaldo) shirt but you can’t stop this boy from scoring. Words cannot do justice to the goal that he scored. Stunning, simply stunning. We love you Bradley.

James – How fitting that a lad who was at our first ever training session 4.5 years ago should score the goal that gave us our first ever league game. James, your determination won the day. You’re a star.

A NOTE IN HISTORY:

When we started 4.5 years ago it took us 14 months to win our first game…we never gave up…when we went to our first tournament we let in 27 goals… we never gave up…in our first season of league football (this year)…we let in 59 goals and scored just 3 in our first 5 matches…we never gave up…we have 21 kids involved from 10 different primary schools, from a variety of backgrounds, 8 of whom could represent countries from Africa and Asia. We are totally dependent on a small band of parents and benefactors for what we do. To each and every one of you thank you for your support. To the Derby City League and the opposition teams that are making this season possible, thank you. As long as the lads enjoy the football we hope to keep giving them the chance to play.

Andy D