Heigham Park v Cringleford + Stoke Holy Cross U9s

Well the weather certainly wasn't what we'd expected, a nice bit of sunshine if a slightly blustery instead of the forecast heavy showers. First match was against Cringleford who we managed a draw against back in September.

Playing on a smallish 3G pitch, the pace was always going to be fast, and so it proved with neither team able to get possession of the ball for any length of time. Heigham survived many early scares as the ball pinballed around the Stripes goal area.

A flash of proper football from Heigham (possibly the only time in the first half) saw the ball rolled out by Evie to Frankie in right defence, passed through to Archie G who laid it on for Sol who sent it home to give us the lead. Amazing what a good piece of passing can do!

Somehow we hung on to the lead until halftime when Fynn came on to the right and Sol went up front. The midfield of Max and Felix in right defence had plenty to do and Evie kept us ahead a couple of times with strong hands.

Cringleford's break through came from a great lob close to the halfway line that came in at such an angle that Evie had no chance.

The player's battled on making more chances, but the final whistle had gone as Sol put the ball past the keeper. Not a bad performance and a 1 - 1 draw, but possession of the ball is key on these smaller pitches.

Game number two and Gabriel took over in goal with Mark starting in right defence. The Heigham squad soon had the measure of the Stoke U9s and again Sol was in the right place to bag the first goal of the match.

Soon after Felix was able to double the score with Max netting a third from a Frankie set-up. From here the Heigham team dominated with Gabriel getting only a couple of touches until the break, by which time Archie G had put a fourth away.

Evie, Fynn and Luke  replaced Max, Sol and Felix for the second half and as the rain clouds gathered Archie G netted another three before the end of a game played out in a hailstorm. Stoke had pulled one goal back and nearly had another, but the quick acting Heigham defence did their job well.

A 7 - 1 victory for  Heigham Park and four points from two matches putting the side third in the Christian League table with two games in hand. A tougher challenge awaits next Saturday 15 February with a clash against league leaders Stoke U10s. Time to batten down the hatches for that one.