Wycombe Wanderers 0-7 Premier Soccer Academy
PSA Goals
, Clayton 7min, Clayton 15 min, Matt 30min, Clayton 49min, Aaron 53min, Aaron 58 min, Aaron, 60min.
I had experimented with a diamond formation in midfield in our pre tour warm up matches against JPC and Redlands united and I felt confident that the squad understood what I wanted.
Starting Line up; JAKE
MATT BEN DANIEL TAYLOR
JAMIE
CLAYTON GREG
TOBIN
GLEN KRIS
Bench….AARON / JOHNNY / ZACK
During the warm up it was clear to see that Zack was struggling, so I made the decision to hold him back until we met Norwich City, this would allow him more time to strengthen his ankle which was still causing him considerable pain since his broken leg earlier this season.
Glen was given instructions to act as a target man who would allow Kris to rove in behind him and look for through balls. Matt and Taylor where encouraged to get forward at every available opportunity and provide us with width.
The opening 5 minutes where scrappy as both teams started the game at a frantic pace, however we where beginning to look the more likely to score. On 7 minutes Clayton burst through from center midfield and latched onto a clever through ball to find himself one on one with the Wanderers keeper and slotted home to give the PSA their first goal of the 2004 Tour.
On 8 minutes Johnny and Aaron where introduced and we continued to pile on the pressure, both Matt and Johnny took full advantage of the space created out wide by our midfield and yet again on 15 minutes Clayton found himself one on one with the Wanderers keeper, cool as you like, he fire home for our second goal.
By now the game had settled down, our back four had done a great job playing out from the back with Jake supplying quality distribution which allowed us to keep the ball. The back four had to contend with a very lively striker, however Ben and by now Jamie who had slotted into center back played high up the field and allowed the Wanderers striker to run repeatedly off-side. On the stoke of 30 minutes Matt, who by now was
playing center midfield picked up a loose ball 25 yards out and fired into the top right hand corner 3-0.
As always my policy is to rotate the players from the sidelines as often as possible this in turn means that players positions will constantly change. I felt it was now time to play with a flat four in midfield so Tobin and Aaron played wide with Daniel and Matt in the center Greg switched to right back whilst Glen played center back along with Ben and Clayton joined Kris up front.
Half Time
An eleven minute spell in the second half saw Aaron bag a hat-trick and Clayton complete this hat-trick all 4 goals where well taken with the pick of the second half goals being Aaron’s second, after a low hard drive from Aaron that the keeper could only half clear, off balance but still going forward Aaron managed to half volley home from 8 yards.
To be honest Wanderers had some very talented players. Our lads where 6 months older than the Wanderers players however Wanderers are a Pro Academy and we are not, which I feel balance things up. As our lads found out the next week at Ipswich Town FC where we where up against a side a year older than our lads, you need to keep your shape under pressure and dig in. Daniel did well in
the center of the park where his physical size and presence allowed him to dominate. Glen did well keeping things simple, holding the ball up and playing in, our midfielders. Jamie was very solid and Kris worried their defence throughout the match, Jake, Greg and Johnny looked very comfortable at the back and Tobin also had a steady game along with Jake.
Clayton and Aaron ran riot both scoring hat tricks, however Ben stood out for me as man of the match . Throughout the tour he remained at center back a position he is not that familiar with, his positioning and one on one defending was outstanding on the day.
We had a few early scares, which if they had resulted in goals would have put us under serious pressure and smashed a hole in our confidence, which we may never have recovered from.
All in all a good start. The score line flattered us a little, the last 4 goals coming in an 11 minute spell when Wanderers just couldn’t get out of there own half. We had our foot on the gas and it was important for us to keep the pressure on and build up confidence going into a tough game against a Premier League Academy side on Wednesday.
Top display from everyone.
P.S.
A parent from Wanderers came over to talk to me at the end of the match, he was full of praise for the way we played and the spirit in which we played, never contesting an issue with the referee. He was particularly impressed with our passing and the way we played out from the back, having a son in the Wanderers team he felt that we had several players capable of playing academy
football in the UK. Praise indeed.
Muzza.