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Match Reports Date: 25th Sept 2011
Stowmarket Town U18 1 AFC Sudbury U18 (Tigers) 7 AFC Sudbury bounced back from last weeks defeat to produce a good display of passing football as they dominated Stowmarket from the off. Sudbury were straight on the attack and threatened the home teams goal several times before Luke Nicoll latched on to a half cleared ball and smashed in to the roof of the net. Stowmarket responded quickly and capitialised on a defensive mix up leaving the striker clear to finish well in the left corner. The second Sudbury goal saw a bit of a goal mouth scramble, the home side failing to clear and Jake Jackson nipped in to nod the ball over the keeper. Nicoll turned provider as he laid a through ball to Will Wingfield, who took it early to strike an excellent 25 yard curling shot beyond the keeper. Sudbury from then on were in complete control and started playing excellent passing football and before the break Nicoll got his second as he and Jackson combined well with a free kick ending in a 20 yard low shot past the outstretched keeper. Changes were made in the second half and following another goal mouth scamble Dan New did a cheeky back heel in to the net. Tracey in goal was distributing the ball well and where possible the team played out from the back, with excellent link up play throughout the side. Sudburys next was a good spot by Dan Smith to take a quick long throw in, which Wingfield glanced past the keeper for his second. The general dominance right across the midfield was creating plenty of chances and Smith again turned provider as a good run down the right resulted in the ball coming across the keeper where Conor Wilde was there for a simple tap in. A very good display of passing football by Sudbury, with solid defending, excellent midfield and wing play and good finishing.The result leaves the side level on points with second place, but fourth due to goal difference.
Brandon Lads U15s 1 AFC Sudbury U15 (Tigers) 2 Last seasons league and cup winners AFC made the journey to league cup runner's up Brandon Lads. Despite this being the third week of the season this was AFC's first game. AFC started well and forced the Brandon keeper into a few saves and had a spell of corners saved or headed just over. In a game that was going to be won in the center of the pitch AFC where playing some neat football against the Brandon three midfield players. A through ball saw Sam Bayliss lob the ball over the keeper only for the center half to clear off the line. Just before half time Brandon had their first effort on goal that keeper Jamie Williams saved well. half time nil nil. At half time we spoke about testing their center backs on the ground and winning our 1v1 battles. However after ten minutes AFC went one down when their forward was allowed a yard and he finished well to give Brandon the lead. However shortly after forward Charlie Poole scored a left footed half volley from the edge of the box. AFC then had a few more efforts that went wide or saved. The next passage of play showed everything that AFC are about with Harry Craig pressing a lost cause that the full back was shielding out however he won the ball and forced a cross that lead to a corner. From Full back charlie Austin corner Bayliss who had just limped back on saw his effort hooked of the line before Poole saw his effort cleared to Tom Wingfield who fired in to put AFC ahead. AFC then saw more off the ball as Brandon pushed on and we ran the clock out well, Including all six minutes of stoppage time! Halstead U10s 0 – AFC Sudbury U10 Blues 2 A change in squad formation saw Sudbury kick off with centre players in defence and vice versa. Halstead got an early push forward but this was picked up with ease by goalie James McGregor. Oscar Edwards was found by the goalie and made a great run up the wing with Eloise King providing strong support. King took the ball through the Halstead defence but could not find the goal. A Sudbury throw by Alfie Gittings found Toby Mattock who slid the ball cleanly to King and her shot was pushed out of the net by the Halstead goalie. The run of play then saw Halstead gain a free kick just outside the Sudbury area, which was blocked by a strong wall of James Lavelle and Gittings. Sudbury had a good push forward which saw 2 shots at the Halstead goal, the first by Mattock and the second by Cory Willings. Sudbury continued to pressure the home team and when needed, the defending of Gittings and Lavelle proved enough to stop the attacks. Willings made a run with the ball, passed to King who then passed back ran on and picked up the ball again and King fired a shot straight through the home team's defence and past the goalie to take the lead. Just before half time Edwards was taken off and Jack Dyble was brought on. He got straight into the game with a corner hitting the cross bar . The half time whistle was called with Sudbury keeping their 1 goal advantage. Halstead kicked off the second half against a changed formation once again with the Sudbury coaches keen to try out the players in different positions. This also saw King staying on the side-lines and Edwards coming back on. A cross from Gittings saw Dyble have a shot go wide. Willings who had now moved into defence saw off a few challenges from the Halstead midfield and seemed to come alive in this new position. With Lavelle on the attack the Halstead goalie was forced to make a good save, and we then saw some great passing between Edwards, Dyble and Lavelle. Mattock was also now in defence and was called upon more than once with Willings to ensure that Halstead could not get through onto goal, which meant Sudbury goalkeeper McGregor saw little action in the second half. Gittings was pulled off and King was brought on to replace him, King soon got back into the thick of it with Lavelle and Dyble. As the second half looked like it was going to draw to a close goalless a great ball from Willings, found Edwards whose pass was picked up by King and passed onto Dyble whose shot was spot on and rattled the back of the Halstead net. The final whistle was blown a few minutes later, and saw Sudbury celebrate another away win. Player Of The Match: Eloise King Halstead U10s 6 – AFC Sudbury U10 Reds 0 Sudbury kicked off with Adam Jeggo and Harry Malone getting straight into the game. Halstead picked the ball up and made a strong attack on the Sudbury goal which saw the ball hit the back of the net despite some sterling efforts from the Sudbury defence and George Codling in goal. Halstead seemed to dominate the Sudbury half but there was some good play provided by Jacob Gilbert and Alex Woodward up the field. Codling was called upon by another attack and managed to clear the ball. Again the Sudbury coaches had moved players around the field from their usual positions and this saw Peter Shipley in the centre of the pitch rather than defence and he soon made his mark moving the ball around. Gilbert and Malone continued to try and press the ball forward but Halstead managed to pick it up and run into the Sudbury half. The defenders tried to stop them but Halstead then picked up their second goal. Sudbury struggled to get any shots past the Halstead defence despite good play by Jeggo and Josh Wood working deep in the Halstead half, and it was only minutes again until Halstead scored number 3. Sudbury seemed disheartened by this flurry of goals, but Gilbert and Malone still tried to battle on but the Halstead defence seemed too much for them to penetrate. Another attack by the home side saw a goal go in the Sudbury net just before half time. It was Halsteads turn to kick off as the second half whistle blew and Sudbury seemed to have shaken off the first half woes and really got into the game. With no subs available the team started to really gel and there was some great play from Shipley and Jeggo, with support coming through as Sudbury put a strong presence into the Halstead half. Malone and Gilbert made some good play but Sudbury could not get the ball into the Halstead goalmouth where Woods had moved to try and pick up. Sudbury then had a succession of corners taken by Jeggo, all of which fell nicely into the Halstead box but again their defence stopped the ball from hitting the back of their net. Halstead then had a run against the visitors and trying to clear a Halstead ball from the goalmouth Sudbury unfortunately conceded an own goal. Undeterred they tried to change the score line but Halstead then managed to squeeze another goal in despite the efforts of Codling to stop the ball. As the game was about to draw to a close Sudbury had a free kick after a Halstead hand ball but could not convert the chance. Player Of The Match: Adam Jeggo AFC Sudbury U16 ISYFL 0 Kesgrave Kestrels 1 A ‘wake up to reality’ call today for the lads, as a very close game was played at home to Kesgrave Kestrels. AFC Sudbury U14 3 v Layer Colts 1 AFC started on a high and took the game to Layer. With much of the possession in the Layer half AFC looked in good shape as they passed the ball around. Cowley and Liam O’Mara took on the Layer midfield and defence and threaded the ball around the pitch. 11mins gone and AFC took the lead. A short goal kick was picked up by Lewis Kindell who took it wide to sent a soaring cross over to find Cowley’s head and the back of the net, his first of the season. Connor Meekings on the right played outstanding having come back from an injured ankle, as he and his fellow defenders kept Layer at bay. Tom Irwin, exceptional as ever, covering at the back, while Sam Daw put in some solid tackles in the middle of defence. Although not much to do Bradley Hayward dominated his goal area today, and earned the respect and confidence of his defenders. AFC’s confidence grew as the half went on, putting Layer’s defence under many attack. Max Horkan on for the injured Kieran Marshall played well down the left midfield, even though he was playing out of position. With minutes to the half time whistle, a momentary lapse of concentration saw the AFC defence outnumbered on the right and Layer take to full advantage to level the scores. At half time the mood in the AFC camp was of dejection for letting the goal in, but they went straight and made amends. With only a minute on the clock, again some nice fancy footwork and linking football between Cowley and O’Mara saw O’Mara lob the Layer defence to Joe Branch; his shot hit the bar. AFC piled the pressure on and a 5 minute free kick on the right saw Daw float the ball deep into the Layer box for Bradley Youngs to knock the ball into the back of the net. And no sooner had the match restarted AFC went 3further ahead; Youngs picking up the ball on the far left, looming ball to Cowley in the middle, who took on the defence, despite Layer desperate to stop him, and slotted home to go 3-1 up. Jordan Brown came on for the injured Kindell just before half time, dropped back to right midfield, as the team had to reshuffle, and again had a solid game; strong tackling and some nice lay-offs were a pleasure to see. O’Mara was unlucky not get on the score sheet, as he was put through by Cowley, his shot inches wide of the post. Layer pushed towards the end to get back into the game, but with the strong AFC defence they could not break and AFC saw the game out to earn three valuable points. Players of the Match: Connor Meekings & Alex Grafen
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