MJPL: Saturday 1 November 2014 ------------------------------------------------- STUDLEY JUNIORS U12s (0) 2 MICKLEOVER SPORTS DYNAMOS U12s (1) 2 (Elliott 23, Taylor 52) ------------------------------------------------- An improvised Dynamos came away from Studley with a 2-2 draw to remain unbeaten in 7 and ensure qualification for the final top group in the final stages of the MJPL. With half their squad missing Mickleover not only had to call on the services of 3 loan players but they were also without Tommo in goal following a broken finger only the week before. Noah stepped into the green kit whilst Tommo pulled on the away kit for his role as emergency outfield substitute. A beautiful morning, a fantastic pitch and training bibs due to a colour clash! What could possibly go wrong? With Studley only 2 points behind Mickleover, they were looking leapfrog them into 3rd place whilst The Dynamos were surely looking at a damage limitation exercise. Expectations were low as the teams kicked off and the early pressure came from Studley with a series of attacks and dangerous corners. But despite Studleys clear height advantage the Dynamos defence held strong with Elliott, Thomas and Danny throwing themselves into challenges. Noah was looking confident and controlled his area with a series of early catches and punches. Meanwhile, Tom and Jasper tried everything they could to break through an equally solid Studley defence and the game was barely 15 minutes old when Tom took quite a knock and had to be taken off. The decision was made to bring on Tommo, complete with strapped up fingers! Kieran, Nico and Taylor were closing down the opposition and despite unfamiliar players and most players being out of position it was Mickleover who looked more likely to score. And it was in the 23rd minute that the deadlock was broken in unusual circumstances. As he passed a defender on the right wing Jasper was bundled over for a free kick. As he and Elliott stood over the ball Elliott took a chance and hit a quickly taken free kick low towards the near post. As the goalie scrambled across his line he narrowly failed to stop the ball crossing the line as he then bundled it in just to be sure. 1-0 Dynamos and an unexpected scoreline. The rest of the half was end-to-end but the best chances fell to the Dynamos first with Jasper narrowly failing to finish a superb Kieran cross and then Nico unable to convert a one-on-one break with the keeper. The whole team were putting in a real shift with Tommo busy playing as many positions as he could at both ends. Half time and it was 1-0 Dynamos with an upset on the cards. Things can, and did, change quickly as Studley came out and scored 2 goals in the first 6 minutes of the second half to seemingly take control of the game. The travelling Mickleover supporters were now fearing the worst. But instead of letting their heads drop the Dynamos dug deep and continued to contest every ball. They almost levelled the game through an unlikely source as a goalmouth scramble saw Tommo pounce like a ninja at the near post and just fail to make the contact needed to poke the ball home. As they continued to chase the game, Mickleover broke down the left with some nice passing between Kieran and Jasper. Kieran twisted and turned on the edge of the box but couldnt quite get through as two defenders closed in fast. As the ball broke loose to Jasper he hit an out-swinging volley across the keeper which smashed against the upright and rebounded out to Taylor who finished nicely under the keeper to pull the game level at 2-2. With just under 10 minutes left it was Mickleover who now had the momentum and they could sense a famous victory but as the final minutes played out neither team could make the killer breakthrough and the whistle went on a truly entertaining match.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:16:52 +0000
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