UNDER 14's MATCH REPORT: Heanor Juniors 1 - 4 LEFC

If you'd told me at 9 am this morning that we would travel to 1st Division Heanor, win 4-1 and book our place in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup I would have told you that "drugs are bad". Seemingly, you wouldn't have been quite as high as I thought! We are in the quarter finals, we did win 4-1 (our first ever away win) and we did indeed beat a 1st Division team.

Firstly, the pitch was bad, and Adam's mum is having a fun time washing the white socks! It had a puddle in the middle and kick offs had to be taken 3 yards to the left. It made for an energy sapping pitch and maybe our superior fitness helped us in this respect. What also helped was desire, desire to win and desire overcome what seemed a very tough task at the first whistle. We may fall short sometimes but neither Ed, myself or any of our fantastic supporters can ever question the desire and spirit which flows throughout the team. We never walk onto the pitch looking defeated as I have seen other teams do, there is always a hope that exist, regardless of the calibre of opposition.

So, the match. The team was built from the back, with Rob excellent yet again we can always feel assured with him in goal. Once again he covered his area well and made some crucial saves. The understanding between Rob and the back four is growing better every game and it showed today. Toby, man of the match, was outstanding at right back rarely missing a tackle and covering across the back line superbly. His reading and understanding of the game is improving all the time and the wide players of Heanor rarely got a clear run on goal with Toby and Joe, in at left back, closing down well and forcing the opposition back. Both Adam and Jabed played well in the centre with Jabed having a very mercurial game and making it look all too easy.

The midfield was busy, and captain Isaac and Patryk were overpowering the Heanor central players giving them little time on the ball and making surging runs in possession. On the right Sam used the ball well and always looked to pass to feet and create something. Jordan, on the left, is looking like he can become a star player and was very close to man of the match. His trickery and work rate add a great balance to the midfield and he capped his performance with a fine header from Alex's excellent cross.

And so, every team needs good strikers and we had two of them today. Alex, who has all the talent in the world netted another 2 goals, the first a brilliant run and shot, the second after he won a challenge with the Heanor keeper and ran the ball home. He looks like he's enjoying himself a lot more this year, but then, it does help when we're winning. The other performer up front was Norradin, who got us off to a great start with a smart turn and shot for the first goal. Noddy is always looking to get in on goal and his enthusiasm and commitment are brilliant. Well done Noddy.

The subs: Josh, on for Adam in the second half, had another solid game making some good tackles and getting stuck in. Jubed (on for Sam) worked hard on the right and has pace and desire to win EVERY ball is commendable. Jack (on for Noddy) as always ran his heart out and was cruelly denied a goal when a harsh bobble saw him hit the bar from a yard out rather than the net. As always Jack was in the right place, just no luck. It will change, anyone who works as hard as Jack will ultimately get his reward.

So, in conclusion an EXCELLENT RESULT. I could pick out faults from our play, but why bother. We can work on that in training and all that should tell us is that we can improve further and build on our success. There is much more to come from this team and results such as this show the hard work that everybody has put in so far.

AWESOME RESULT, AWESOME TEAM!

Goals: Bucknor 2, Tourki, Bailey

Toby of the Match: Toby!

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