24th November Div. One
Canterbury Youth 2 – 0 Woodnesborough
The first half saw lots of industry by both teams, but not much goal mouth action. The only real chance of the half fell to
Canterbury when Jack burst through the middle only to see his shot excellently saved by the on-rushing ‘keeper. Ben, Danny and Tanaka all had half-chances, while at the other end, George did well to deny Woodnesborough on a couple of occasions.
The second half saw
Canterbury quickly get into their stride; the energy, tackling and passing were all excellent, only the finish was missing. The breakthrough final came courtesy of a strike right out of the top draw. A
Canterbury corner was half cleared to Dan who controlled the ball beautifully mid-way inside the Woodnesborough half before unleashing an unstoppable shot passed the ‘keeper.
Canterbury continued to press forward and Cameron was unlucky not to score after showing good skill. Good defending, especially from Joe, and persistent pressure going forward were rewarded when Tanaka’s shot crept in despite the best efforts of the ‘keeper, to seal another well deserved victory.
Man-of-the-match went to Danny for another high energy performance in midfield. The cold morning had certainly been warmed up by an entertaining match thanks to two good sides and some exciting football.
17th November Div. One Ashford Borough 2 – 3
Canterbury
Youth
Another battling performance from the Under 8s turned a two-nil deficit into a well deserved victory at Ashford Borough. The early exchanges were dominated by Ashford, who seemed quicker to every ball. They were rewarded after five minutes when a mix-up in defence gave them the lead. Less than a minute later
Canterbury
were caught again by a ball over the top and a great finish to give Ashford a two-nil lead. Canterbury continued to play their passing football and the breakthrough came after ten minutes when a neat move involving Dan and Tanaka released Jack through the middle and the striker gave the Ashford ‘keeper no chance with his low shot. With the confidence returning,
Canterbury
started to create more chances. Conor came close on several occasions after working hard to find himself good attacking positions. Dan was starting to impose himself on the midfield and the equaliser came when he closed down an Ashford player in their half and even though he was on the ground, he had the quickness of mind to knock the ball through to Jack who scored his second from a tight angle. HALF-TIME 2-2. The second half was a tight, combative affair, with both teams working really hard in midfield. The Ashford attacks were dealt with by Oli, and Luke was occasionally called upon to clear his lines. Dan was putting in tackle after tackle, which rightly earned him man-of-the-match. The introduction of fresh legs meant that
Canterbury
were able to keep the pressure on their opponents. We created several more chances, Sam forced a good save from the ‘keeper and Jack followed up but his effort hit the underside of the bar with the ball bouncing back into the ‘keeper’s arms. The winner eventually came with six minutes left. Both Ben and Sam were instrumental down the right, closing down their opponents quickly and winning the ball. Sam played the ball to Ben, whose shot was again saved well by the excellent ‘keeper, but this time Jack calmly slotted the rebound into the empty net to complete his hat-trick and earn a hard-fought victory.
10th November Div. One
Canterbury
Youth 4 – 1 Thanet Colts
Canterbury
put in one of their best performances of the season so far, both defensively and offensively. After gifting Thanet Colts a three nil lead the week before,
Canterbury
were determined not to give their opponents a sniff of goal in the return fixture. Right from the start the midfield trio of Dan, Tanaka and Danny imposed themselves on the opposition. The pressure led to many good chances in the first half, but unfortunately none was converted. Danny, George and Jack all put shots across the face of the goal. More good work in the midfield from Dan put George through on the keeper, only for his shot to be well saved. In defence, Oli was dealing well with the Colts’ attacks. Luke was alert to quickly rush out of his area to clear a dangerous long ball. A one-sided first half came to an end with the score line somehow remarkably at 0-0. The second half was a more even affair, with both sides working hard.
Canterbury
were quick to exploit the space created by the free-flowing game. The opening goal came in the 23rd minute with Jack applying the finish to a swift passing move involving Dan and Tanaka. Jack then turned provider for George to slam home the second moments later. To their credit Thanet kept battling and created chances of their own. They pulled a goal back on 32 minutes and but for some great defensive tackling back by Tanaka, Dan and Conor and a wonderful save from Luke in goal, they may have scored again. Any chance of a come-back was thwarted with five minutes to go when man-of-the-match Tanaka scored our third. The chance was created with some great work from Danny who pressurised the Thanet defenders into losing the ball, allowing Tanaka to fire home from a tight angle. With a minute to go Tanaka picked up a lose ball on the edge of his own area and set off on a mazy run. He beat two players before supplying a perfect pass into the path of Jack who finished with aplomb.
Canterbury Youth Under 8s – mid season review
At the midway point in the league, the Under 8s have the very respectable record of played 9, won 5, lost 4. We started the league in sparkling form, winning the first four matches, scoring 20 goals and conceding just three. One of the highlight was the performance against Deal Town Rangers where the boys played some really excellent passing football to emerge 6-0 victors. After four matches, only two sides in the league had 100% records; Canterbury Youth and Faversham Strike Force. One of them had to give when they met in the fifth round of matches! The first half was a tight affair, Strike Force scored an early goal, but
Canterbury
levelled through top-scorer Jack.
Canterbury
then probably edged it on possession and chances, but a late goal meant we then found ourselves going in 1-2 down at half-time. The second half was again very tight until Strike Force began to get the upper hand in the final 10 minutes. They scored twice more before Tanaka reduced the deficit, but a goal in the final minute meant that the score line of 2-5 was somewhat harsh and scant consolation for an excellent performance. Having suffered their first defeat, two more followed, although both were close games in which we only lost by the odd goal. Understandably, three straight defeats meant that the confidence was not as high as it had been. But credit to the boys for then putting in a spirited performance to win their next game. Then, just as we seemed to be back on track, in our last game, a sleepy first five minutes handed the opposition a three-nil head-start. The boys then played fantastically to get back level. We were easily playing the better football and creating chances. We had a goal disallowed before a harsh free kick delivered defeat and a lesson to the boys.
As the season has progressed we have seen some great matches and it’s fantastic to see all the boys playing well, improving and enjoying themselves. And as first-time coaches we are learning a lot too! We’d like to say a big thank-you to all the parents for their support so far as we look forward to an exciting second half of the season.