Doncaster Rovers U9 v Richmond at Kevin Bartlett Reserve, Richmond.
As Richmond had shared the honours with us last year it was expected that this was going to be a tight game. The ground was in perfect condition with the game being played on approximately ¾ of the length of the pitch and the full width. The goals were a good size being 6m wide and 2m high and the sun was shining so there should be plenty of goals.
Pete had the boys warmed up nice and ready for the 10.07 kick off and this obviously had the desired effect as the boys set off at a great pace. Richmond pushed forward but Aaron got in his first of many great tackles and the ball went to the right wing for a Doncaster throw. Michael sent a long throw in to the middle where Ryan flicked to Jack and Jack pushed a smooth pass out to Christos who was coming in from the left and sent a scorching shot over the bar dead on the 2nd minute mark. Wow what a start. Pete’s passing drills were really working.
At this point I realised pen and paper was not going to work so out came the trusty multipurpose mobile phone with voice recorder.
4 minutes into game, great pressure from Christos on the ball resulted in the ball going out to Ryan on the right. Ryan’s run resulted in a throw-in where the ball came to Jack. He passed quickly to Christos on the left whose snap shot was blocked with the rebound going to Alexon in the centre who looped an interesting shot just over. Oohhhh!
Richmond, who was struggling with their goal kicks, sent a weak one straight to Anthony. He sent a hard cross into the middle which was cut off but Aaron sent the ball back into Jack on the penalty spot who shimmied to the right leaving the defender for dead and slammed the ball into the top right hand corner for the first goal. GOALLLL 1:0 on the 5 minute mark.
Doncaster was applying pressure down both wings with the few attacks from Richmond being dealt with by Aaron and Michael. Solid tackles from both players gave us a firm grasp on this game. Ryan took a darting run down the right and sent in a great cross to Christos whose shot was saved by the keeper but Jack was there to steal the ball and slot the ball home for his and Doncaster’s second on the 8 minutes mark. GOALLL 2:0.
Straight from the centre kick the boys were pressuring Richmond. A goal kick was met by Aaron who controlled well and sent a beautiful pass down the right to Anthony. He set off and slipped a great cross into Jack who showed his silky skills to set up Josh with a great shot and GOALLLL. Doncaster 3:0 on the 9th minute mark.
10 minutes in, pressure straight from the off with a Doncaster attack resulting in another goal kick. The keeper sends a weak one straight to Josh whose fierce shot rebounds off the cross bar – ooooooooh!
Seven minutes goes by with almost constant Doncaster pressure with hardly any Richmond attacks. The lone corner they have actually started a great move by the boys for the next goal. Jack headed clear the Richmond corner and Cheney who was always running sent the ball to Christos who passed to Josh then quickly onto Dion. Dion pushed it down the line to Christos who set off like a whippet down the line then passed it back to Dion who seemed to be everywhere. Dion shimmied in from the left and passed into Cheney whose shot was blocked and then Dion pounced on the ball and smacked it into the bottom right hand corner. GOALLLLL. 4:0 on the 17th minute. Whilst all of that was going on I completely missed that Jack was on the floor having been pole-axed by an errant Richmond challenge. He was subbed and recovered on the side line.
On the 20 minute mark Anthony takes a corner which was blocked and cleared. Aaron won the ball and sent it down the line to Ryan who slickly passed onto Christos. Christos centred and the ball was cleared to Dion. He passed to Alexon whose shot was blocked but only to Anthony who calmly slotted a side foot shot into the back of the net. GOALLL 5:0 on the 21 minute mark.
After continued pressure from Doncaster and a solid tackle from Michael a great run from Anthony just ran out for a goal kick. The resultant Richmond kick out went straight to Ryan who easily controlled the ball and took his time to sink a shot into the bottom left hand corner. Great composure GOALLLLL 6:0 on the 24th minute mark.
Although Richmond had lost all shape they did burst through close to the end of the first half but the run was well stopped by Ryan who turned and ghosted past his opponent and passed through the middle to Michael on the right. Michael passed into Jack who quickly side footed to Dion who scored his second goal from outside the penalty area. Great movement and slick passing GOALLL 7:0 25 minute mark.
Half time whistle. 7:0 to Doncaster.
A quick attack down the left saw Alexon receive a ball from Jack and crossed into Michael whose header was just over. The goal kick didn’t go far and Dion controlled the ball well and kicked home his third of the day GOALLL 8:0 29 minute mark.
The pace was frantic with one attack after the other and really just too many to mention here. All the boys were playing really well.
On the 31 minute mark Jack took a corner from the right which was cleared by the defence but only to Dion whose run was stopped and the ball taken away.
