Slick City Slot Six Past Colts

Manchester was not the only place to see City score 6 today, as Central City U11s bounced back from the disappointment of the previous week to comfortably beat Kentisbeare Colts 6-1 at a blustery King George V.

City welcomed Sam P back from injury and his delightful through ball in the first minute very nearly led to Alfie W opening the scoring but his shot went just the wrong side of the far post. City continued to create excellent chances in the opening stages of the match, despite playing with the wind against them. Ryan was unlucky to see an effort hit the bar, Dan's near post flick from a corner went agonisingly wide and from a Sam P cross, Alfie volleyed just over. Six minutes into the game, City did break the deadlock as Alfie W converted a Will P corner. A minute later, City doubled their lead as yet another fine delivery from the left by Sam left the keeper stranded and Ryan was on hand to prod in from close distance. Having established a good lead, a defensive lapse then allowed Kentisbeare back into the game with a very good finish making the score 2-1.

The remainder for the first half was a story of sustained City pressure, with the keeper doing well to keep out 2 great shots from Ryan, the latter following a superb pass from Will P. Shortly afterwards, a fantastic cross-field pass from Cameron released Ryan and his cross caused panic in the opposition defence and was handled by a Colts defender for a clear penalty which Alfie W dispatched with aplomb. Moments before half-time, Alfie claimed a first-half hat-trick with arguably his best goal of the game, setting himself up to fire powerfully into the net and make it 4-1.

Dan brings the ball out of a crowded midfield

With the wind behind them in the 2nd half, City continued to dominate, with Sam R largely a by-stander. 2 half-chances fell to Julen early on and City then had a string of corners all of which were delivered with accuracy and power by Will P. Unfortunately for City, they were unable to get a decisive touch on any of them. Alfie thought he had added to his tally when  his shot was parried by the keeper and appeared to have crossed the line, but the goal was not given. Jo made one excellent run on the left, beating a number of defenders and drawing a fine save from the keeper, before Alfie W notched his fourth, and City's 5th, with a hard shot into the bottom corner. He very nearly made it a 5-star performance when seeing a goal-bound header tipped over, before Sam P rounded off the day with a scrambled effort from a corner. There was still time for Julen to very nearly get on the end of a high ball but he couldn't quite connect and so it finished 6-1.

This was a very solid team performance from front to back in difficult windy conditions on a narrow pitch. Man of the Match went to Oscar for his improvement and defensive display. Well done Oscar!

It was great to get back to winning ways and made the post-match pizza at our joint City / United Xmas Social all the more enjoyable. It was to be City's day, in more ways than one.