The Dragons Blow away Burgess

After last weeks match was postponed due to rubbish weather, the spring Sunshine was a welcome sight for us to get the game on and charge towards the final few matches of what has been a fantastic season with lots of learning curves.

Nigel and Darren had been working on some new drills with the boys throughout the week at training and wanted the boys to work on this through the game.

Another strong lineup consisted of - Oliver in Goal, Dean, Ethan and Cam holding the back line. Jack, Harry, Zack and Mase in the midfield and a front 3 of Kieron, Sam and Dorian.

Nigel said to the boys just before kick off - Go out there and Start fast and OH BOY did they!

With less than a minute on the clock, Jack won the ball in the midfield through a fantastic tackle and was on his way. Playing a quick 1-2 with Zack before sending a great throughball into the path of Sam who put on the afterbners and left the defenders behind before squaring the ball to Kieron on the edge of the area. Kieron took a touch to compose himself before finishing calmly past the onrushing keeper into the corner. 1-0 and no more than 40 seconds played.

This set the precedent for the rest of the game and an indicator that the Burgess defence was going to be in for a long day with Sam, Dorian and Kieron's pace.

A few close calls with Sam hitting a shot just past the post after an awful bobble on the pitch, Dorian hitting the side netting and Jack hitting a long ranger that just went wide all happened within the next 3 or so minutes and really showed how up for the game the boys were.

The next goal came from a similar source with Zack, Sam, Harry and Jack all linking up well in the midfield before playing a fantastic ball over the top for Dorian to run onto. Sam got his second assist setting it through to D and the run and Finish from Big D was brilliant. He held off his man before beating another for pace and then finishing with a brilliant right footed shot past the keeper. 2-0

The next attack gave us the next goal, this time with play coming down the left side. Dean covered a long ball over the top before calmly turning the winger and passing the ball into Mase. Mase sent his marker to the shops with a little drag back and pass around the corner into the path of D who had made a great run. D picked up the ball and drove forward before playing a lovely little through ball again into the path of Speedster Sam who left his marker for Dead. Sam got the ball just outside the area and moved it onto his right foot and finished superbly past the on rushing keeper into the far corner! 3-0 and less than 10 minutes played.

From here the boys just dominated the game, creating chance after chance, playing some brilliant football and defending extremly well with Dean, Cam and Ethan all having great performances! Oliver was calm and collected in goal, giving the defenders an option to pass back to and then recycling the ball out to either Cam or Dean to get us back on the attack. Burgess didn't manage a single shot on target in the first half and that is down to the work of the boys on the pitch!

Just to point out the dedication and ability of this team, there was a dodgy bounce from a long ball from the keeper that went over the defence . With their player running through, Ethan and Cam were chasing back and jockeying the player so they didnt give away a foul before Dean came sprinting back from the left side and came across and pulled off an unbelievable tackle just as the Player was about to pull the trigger. As the ball rolled out of the play, Cam, Ethan and Oliver all jumped over to Dean to give him praise and a hug and celebrate a tackle like a goal! Brilliant!

HT - BURGESS- 0 - TD - 3

At the Half, Nigel made some changes and bought on Stan P, Lewis and Toby for Harry, Mase and Ethan.

The boys once again started strong and dominated the midfield winning nearly every ball that came their way, whether it be tackle or Header and then did their best to get the forwards back on the front foot.

Stan P was doing a great job spreading the play and keeping it simple with his passing and general play. Harry was his usual pocket rocket, making a nuisance of himself, getting in the Burgess players space not giving them a chance to think and then Toby put the big number 7 on lock! ( who by the way was the one who hurt our Jack and Our Mase in the pre season tournament last year) -_-

The goal was coming but a mixture of good goalkeeping, poor finishing and a back 6 made it difficult to get as quick as the one in the first half.
Just after the 40 minute mark, Kieron, Dorian and Harry played some great little passes on the left side before Harry set Dorian through again. D picked up the ball, Beat one player and then layed it into the path of Kieron. Kieron was his usual twinkle toes and dribbled past another player before cutting back past another one and then back towards the byline. As he beat the player he hit a fantastic shot towards goal that took a slight deflection off the defender and into the side of the net. 4-0.

Again a deserved goal and this set the tone for the second half with Wave after wave after wave of attack.

Just before 50 minutes the boys won the ball back in the RB spot and Cam played it forwards towards Stan P. Stan held the ball and turned his man before playing a great ball through to Zack. Zack dazzled with some great footwork before playing another beaut of a ball through to Sam. Now i do feel for the left back of Burgess Hill as he honestly had such a difficult day going up against Sam, who looked like he had Redbull on his Weetabix this morning as he didn't stop running! Sam Hit the jets and drove down the right wing beating several players for pace before putting a lovely ball across to Kieron who was in a great area of the box. Kieron Controlled the ball first time, Knocked it past a defender and finished with a lovely little chip over the onrushing keeper for his hat trick. 5-0

The boys just dominated from the off and this didn't stop. Nigel made a few more changes with Jack, Cam and Zack coming off for a rest and Mase, Ethan and Harry coming back on to finish the game. Harry was on a mission to try and score today and had so many chances that he created and the boys were trying to get him the goal but it just wasn't his day, Next game!

Kieron's 4th goal came from some great work again from the team, with the boys playing it all the way back to Oliver before starting again with a pass to Ethan, Up to Mase, over to Stan, then to Toby, back to stan before a pass into Lewis on the edge of the area to dink a ball through to Kieron before he finished with a great Shot across the keeper into the far corner! 6-0

Now in a game with some fantastic team and individual goals its difficult to pick the best but we saved it for last!

After a good battle in midfield, Mase played the ball into Stan P who avoided a lunge from the Burgess player and drove forward towards the edge of the box- before being Cynically cut down from behind in a nasty challenge. Stan P picked himself up and placed the ball around 22 yards out just to the right of the D, took a few steps back before hitting an absolute thunderbugger of a free kick over the wall and past the keeper into the far left corner! 7-0

FT - BURGESS - 0 - TD - 7

Back to Back 7-0 wins for the team and a great way to respond to a difficult patch. Now looking towards the last 3 games of the season with some tough opponents to secure the best finish we can!

MOTM- Kieron Florimond- A fantastic performance from Kieron who showed his quality in finishing and footwork today. Running the channels, Playing some great football and well deserved!