Heigham Park Rangers Under 10s into 2014

Happy New Year to everyone with an interest in Heigham Park Rangers under 10s and of course, anyone else.

We begin 2014 with a friendly, non-league 5-a-side tournament in the Christian League and a proper challenge in the combination against Norwich Corinthians.

To the UEA Sportspark first for a rather early start on a Saturday morning with the squad; Luke, Evie, Archie G, Felix, Fynn, Gabriel and our temporary signing from Chile, Nicholas. Frankie was unable to join in as he sustained a proper injury on Friday in training, a suspected stretched ligament or similar.

10 teams were in attendance and our games went like this;

Heigham Park 0 - 3 Stoke Holy Cross A
Heigham Park 5 - 0 Surrey Chapel (Archie G 3, Felix 2)
Heigham Park 3 - 0 Chapelfield (Archie G, Fynn 1)
Heigham Park 0 - 0 Stoke Holy Cross B

We were due to take part in the third place play-off against Brooke, but we ran out of time, so decided both teams came third. Not a bad achievement with some very fast and furious games on the indoor pitch. All players getting stuck in and using their heads as well as their feet. Special mention to Gabriel for some great goalkeeping.

Heigham Park v Norwich Corinthians

A delayed start due to a frosty pitch which made for a more relaxed start. The squad looked well rested and keen to get going. We reflected on the previous performance and what we need to do to move on. It was stressed that whatever the outcome of this match, as long as every player gives their all, they can walk away with their heads held high.

We kicked off with Frankie looking doubtful as his injury was causing problems during the warm up. The Heigham side came out fighting, and carried on in the same vane throughout the match. Aidan took a defensive position keeping behind the ball with Arthur, and particularly Sol, covering a lot of ground, frustrating the opposition on several occasions. The back line of Sam and Max kept it solid and Ted, as usual, was were he needed to be when he needed to be there.

Much of the first part saw a lot of defensive work from Heigham, which was effective with all the players doing what was needed. The deadlock was broken by the Corinthians when they sent in a fantastic cross that was headed home to take the home side 1 - 0 up.

It was end-to-end stuff all the way, a real battle, but the opposition had the upper hand and got another before half time, by which time Luke had replaced Sol on the left.

The interval refreshment was kindly provided by Arthur - a selection of colourful, and somewhat sweet (according to dad) cakes. These were duly devoured, with no complaints about the sugar content and the game recommenced.

Heigham played just as well in the second half and got themselves back in the game from a series of breaks, one resulting in Archie R getting through the Corinthians defence to face the (rather tall) goalkeeper. He kept his nerve and made the score 2 - 1.

Unfortunately the Corinthians pulled another out of the bag (the central line of Sol, Aidan and Arthur were feeling the burn by now), so the final score was 3 - 1 to the home side.

Frankie and Archie Gs' attempt to bribe Tommy to score an own goal if they let him have a cake didn't come off, but was obviously worth a shot.

All-in-all a magnificent display of skill and determination. It was so good to see the team members working closely together, taking on board tactics discussed before the game and listening to (calm) advice administered from the sidelines. If they can pull performances together like this each time, they'll walk away happy. Very, very well done!