Stotfold are double trouble for Panthers’ title hopes

Melbourn Dynamos Panthers 0 Stotfold U-9 1

MELBOURN lost for only the second time this season, as Stotfold completed the double against them in an entertaining game.

The home side dominated throughout but could not convert numerous chances.

But lots of positives to be drawn, such as the mobility of Panthers front pair Ben Webb and Charles Johnson.

The latter's athletic finish, after being put through by Webb, being matched by a brave and brilliant save.

The Stotfold keeper was the star of the show, then catching James Rushton's goalbound header well.

Sam Bedlow broke through with a solo run but the keeper covered his angles well.

Stotfold took the lead against the run of play with a fine downward header inside the post, following a corner, inside the post.

Dynamos stuck to their passing game, but the theme continued with Webb and Bedlow missing good chances from close range.

A long range Rushton rocket then just missed the right upright. Panthers' fine defence of captain James Fowkes and Eddie Twyman restricted Stotfold to one further shot on target.

Despite the craft and industry of Bedlow, Willem Van der Ven and Alex Maskell the score remained the same.

Letchworth Eagles Yellows 5 Hormead Hares U-11 2

A TENACIOUS performance by visitors Hormead Hares deserved a better score than this.

For much of the game, they played better than the Yellows, but eventually the superior strength and individual talents of the Letchworth boys saw them win through.

Hormead were out of the blocks quicker, and they dominated play for the first 10 minutes, and they took the lead when lovely passing move cutting through the Letchworth defence to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

The next few minutes saw Letchworth slowly grind their way back into the game and it was Jordan Leech Levy who found the net first with a crisp strike to bring the Yellows level.

Letchworth took the lead shortly after when Ryan Fells had a good shot well saved by the Hormead keeper. However, he could not hold on to it and Fells followed up to smash it into the net.

Another good save stopped Leech-Levy getting his second, but shortly after a Kyle Males' corner found its way into the net to make it 3-1 to Letchworth.

After the break, Hormead scored first to make a game of it at 3-2.

Letchworth pulled away again following a lovely swivel and left foot shot by Caspar Courlander, that brought yet another good save from Hormead's goalkeeper. However Christopher Moore put it in the net from the rebound; a goal well deserved for his performance.

Again Christopher Moore and Jordan Leech-Levy combined well before Levy scored to wrap things up.

Broadhall Youth U-11 4 Melbourn Dynamos Panthers 2

AN improved performance from the Panthers this week, this time away against mid-table rivals Broadhall Youth, could not prevent the home sides taking he Crow League points.

Playing downhill in the first half, Broadhall exploited the slope and put the Panthers under pressure early on, forcing an athletic save from keeper Nick Thompson and then hitting the post from the resulting corner.

Having had a goal rightly disallowed for offside shortly afterwards, Broadhall put themselves ahead by pouncing on a loose ball in the box, and quickly opened up a two-goal deficit as the Panthers fought to regain their composure.

It was Byron Lawrence who forced a Panthers breakthrough with a really strong solo run right through into the Broadhall penalty area, beating several challenges and firing low in to the corner to make it 2-1.

Any hopes of pulling level were quickly extinguished however, as Broadhall countered at the other end twice in quick succession - going into the half-time break a comfortable 4-1 up.

The second half saw the best football the Panthers have played for some time, with some really tight defensive play as the Panthers really started to compete for every ball.

The effort paid off when man-of-the-match Lawrence snatched the ball from a retreating Broadhall defender and crossed for Craig Stalker to slot home a well deserved goal, closing the game at 4-2 and putting some welcome smiles back on Melbourn faces.

Bassingbourn Youth U-10 A 2 Arlesey Town Youth A 1

BASSINGBOURN'S first game for three weeks saw them playing at home against Arlesey and after losing the close fought away fixture, the hosts were keen to make amends.

It was in-form James Smith linking well with skipper Matthew Lovejoy who created the first opening. However, he failed to score.

When Arlesey attacked, they found James Fox and Robert Winfield in the home defence hard to beat.

The second half saw Bassingbourn pick up where they left off, Smith surging forward at every opportunity, threaded the ball through to Ben Robson who, one on one with the keeper, slammed the ball into the net.

Arlesey tried to force Bassingbourn back, but tough tackling and intelligent passing from Tony Aresti and Matthew Lovejoy earned Bassingbourn a corner which Smith converted direct from the kick, to give him a deserved goal.

Arlesey did get a consolation goal when Bassingbourn failed to deal with a corner and Gio Tamburello was beaten in the ensuing scramble.

But Bassingbourn remained strong and maintained their lead to win the game.

Bassingbourn Youth U-10 B 4 Arlesey Town Youth B 1

BAS' made it a successful weekend for the under-10s when they recorded a comfortable win against Arlesey.

Emily Arnold and Sean Smith running the midfield caused Arlesey constant problems. However it was Arlesey who scored first, when Chris O'Connor failed to keep out a shot.

With the touch-paper lit, it was all Bassingbourn from then on, Jonno Roope and Tom Moody kept things tight in defence whilst Arnold rained shot after shot goalwards, failing to find the target, it was Tom Bromilow on hand to tuck the ball in the net from close range.

Tireless effort from Sean Smith saw him add another two goals and good inter play between Sean Cook and Arnold saw the latter get her just rewards when she slotted home to seal the win at 4-1.