U9's in 7-1 win over Tarleton

Red Rose Juniors 7 - 1 Tarleton Corinthians

The match was played at Preston Sports Arena on astro-turf, with a strong wind blowing across the pitch.

The first 2 mins were evenly matched with both sides battling for supremacy. Red Rose then gained possession through A O’Rourke, who then knocked the ball down the wing to L Foley. He crossed to D Conroy who made no mistake in putting Red Rose ahead. 1 – 0 to Red Rose.

Red Rose attacked again from the kick-off, with a shot from G Hall which was deflected across goal. J Wilson stretched but couldn’t connect enough to deflect the ball goalwards.

4mins: Red Rose attacked through A O’Rourke, again picking the ball up from defence before passing neatly to M Raines. He sent the ball down the wing for J Wilson to chase, who just kept the ball in play to deliver a cross to L Foley. His shot was stopped by an excellent save from the Tarleton keeper.

13 mins: Tarleton pushed forward and broke through on goal only to be denied by solid keeping from C Unsworth who saved twice in quick succession. 15 mins: Red Rose gain a corner, Tarleton fail to clear the ball, D Conroy nips in and tucks it away for his, and our second.

Substitution (16 mins) : L Foley off, C Bayley on.

17 mins: Tarleton attack, but are stopped by good defending by A O’Rourke. For the next 8 mins the match is even with attacks from both sides, but no further goals.

Half Time. 2-0 to Red Rose but Tarleton still in it.

Red Rose surged forward from the off with A O’Rourke again surging down the wing and then crossing to D Conroy who was denied again by good keeping.

28mins: Red Rose once more attacked through A O’Rourke who whipped the ball into the box. J Wilson controlled then flicked the ball to D Conroy, but again the Tarleton keeper stopped the shot.

29 mins: Red Rose back on the attack again, with G Hall winning the ball in midfield to pass to our striker, D Conroy, who surged forward with 2 Tarleton defenders bearing down on him. He quickly stopped the ball, dragged it back, flicked it to the side and bang, his hatrick and the 3rd for Red Rose.

Substitution (31 mins) : C Bayley off, L Foley back on.

32 mins: Red Rose then started to dominate the match. D Conroy broke through on goal and made no mistake to collect his and our 4th goal of the match. 33mins: Tarleton’s heads had started to go down; Red Rose attacked again and earned a corner. From it Tarleton cleared but only as far as A O’Rourke who ran forward to meet the ball and unleashed a rocket shot from 25 yards. The ball screamed into the net. 5 – 0 to Red Rose.

35mins: Another Red Rose corner. G Hall collected it, passed to M Raines who shot, but the ball went inches wide.

36mins: Tarleton hadn’t given up and counter attacked. Red Rose cleared out of the box but only as far as a Tarleton player who, similarly to A O’Rourke’s goal, lined up and let loose with a rocket of his own..a certain goal…..until our Captain, C Unsworth sprung to the rescue to pull of a fantastic stretching, diving save that had all the supporters clapping in amazement!

37mins: Red Rose cleared the resultant corner. D Conroy gathered the ball and set off for goal. After swerving round 2 players he calmly knocked the ball home for his 5th to make it 6 – 0 to Red Rose.

38 mins: Red Rose attacked straight from the off, with D Conroy completing the move to score his 6th, and made it 7 – 0 to Red Rose.

Any thoughts of Tarleton rolling over were quickly dispelled as they fought back into the match.

40 mins: Tarleton pushed for a goal, only to be stopped by J Wilson. 41 mins: Again Tarleton pressed on but were stopped by A O’Rourke (who seemed to be everywhere!). Tarleton continued to press and hit the post with a header.

Substitution (41 mins) : D Conroy off, C Bayley on.

Tarleton started to dominate the midfield and put Red Rose under pressure. 45 mins: Tarleton continued to press, and following a half clearance a Tarleton player struck a shot which finally beat the defence and our keeper. 7 – 1 to Red Rose.

46 mins: Red Rose came straight back at Tarleton, but they countered with an attack that needed our super keeper to deny them again. Tarleton remained on top for the last 4 mins of the game but were unable to gain further reward.

Final Score: Red Rose Juniors 7 – 1 Tarleton Corinthians.

Another good result for Red Rose, against a well organised team who didn’t really start to play until late in the 2nd half.

Player of the Match: Several players were outstanding today. C Unsworth pulled off some amazing saves, J Wilson played very well down the left wing in the first half and tackled strongly in defence in the 2nd half, whilst D Conroy was untouchable up front. But, the one player who seemed to be everywhere when it mattered both down the wing and in defence with excellent tackling, plus a stunning goal, was A O’Rourke, who’s raised his game over the last couple of weeks. Well done!