Match Report - U12s vs Croughton Colts, Sunday 16th Mar 2014

This was the return leg of a fixture which saw Bure Park grind out a win in tough conditions in December last year. This time however, a glorious sunny afternoon greeted Bure Park Juniors U12s as they hosted Croughton Colts Tornados. The away team was well supported, as was Bure Park, a sure sign that the weather has turned the corner. Croughton have struggled for points this term but on today's evidence it was hard to see why. They put up a very creditable performance against a Bure Park side brimming with confidence after recent results. A hard fought opening spell saw Croughton have the best of the ball, with Bure Park failing to spark up their passing game. However, despite their possession, Croughton could not take advantage. Yet again the defense of Mansley, Tyrrell and Colquhoun, with Oscar Honour in from of them, provided a solid wall the attackers just could not get through, and Sam Gauld was waiting to mop up in goal. Bure Park probably had in excess of ten corners in this match, and on another day would have converted at least one. Oscar Honour had a good chance and Aiden Holliday in particular seemed to have the knack of finding Tommy Mansley's excellent corners with his head, but he just could not steer them goalwards (see photo on right). The deadlock was broken in the 23rd minute, when after a Bure Park attack the ball came out to Ben Heath. Heath was playing on the right wing and found himself on the edge of the area when he launched one towards goal. In the photo on the left Heath has struck the ball which has looped perfectly over two defenders and the Croughton keeper into the top-left hand corner. One nil. Whilst this was a great piece of individual skill, Heath's second goal came from the move of the match a few minutes into the second half, and was the result of some great passing interplay. Aiden Holliday started off the move by battling hard to win possession of the ball after play had broken down, and then accelerating into space. As defenders arrived to close him down, Holliday then picked out Joe Mimpress on the left wing. Mimpress controlled the ball well and spotted Zac Willis making a run in front of him. Mimpress played a lovely lob which beat the defense and left Willis bearing down the left wing. Willis still had a man to beat and then saw Heath in space with the goal at his mercy. Willis simply passed the ball parallel to the goal, taking the Croughton goalie out of the game and it was a simple tap in for Heath. Two-nil and a brace for Ben Heath. It looked as though Heath had returned the favour later on. The Croughton keeper threw the ball out to a defender, and immediately Lucas Davis playing on the left wing in the second half closed him down, but in doing so conceded a throw-in. From the resultant throw, the hard-working Davis again won possession and passed out of a congested left-midfield area to Heath who found himself ten yards outside the area with choices in front of him. He slid a lovely ball through the middle to Willis who slotted easily home, but the off-side flag was already raised, although it must have been close. This was one of many chances that Bure Park had in the second half, but last ditch defending from Croughton kept the blues out.  In the last ten minutes a Croughton throw-in on their right-wing by the half-way line was met with a huge jump from Robbie Heath, whose strong header played in his brother. Ben beat one man to give himself some space and then made huge ground into the area. Ben crossed to William Tyrrell (who had swapped positions with Zac Willis)  who found himself still with a man to beat on the edge of the area. Tyrrell passed right to Dan Carr who had been making good runs along the right wing. The defender moved over to cover Carr, which now left Tyrrell free by the penalty spot. Carr played a high pass back to Tyrrell who controlled it with his knee, and as the bell bounced had only the keeper to beat, but the ball then seemed to bobble and he swiped at and missed the ball. Another tremendous all-round performance from Bure Park today, with everyone playing their part. Special mention however to man-of-the-match Lochlan Colquhoun (left) who tidied up at the back on occasions too numerous to mention, gave 100% as always, and set up several Bure Park attacking moves from the back. Other Match highlights