SMJFL - Under 13's Sunday 20th January 2002 Venue: Home

Hazel Grove U 13's	1 - 2	Signol Athletic U13's
G.Wood

In possibly the most physical game of the season the Grove Team at all levels learned some very harsh lessons this morning.
In a hotly contested first half Grove were the better side and controlled most of the territory and the possession, but had to fight very hard against a Signol team who competed for every ball and kept the pace of the game moving at 100 MPH. The lesson to learn in this half was "you must take your scoring chances". Too many good, and a few very easy opportunities were missed which could have killed off the Signol Team in the first half. When the opening goal did come it was a cracker; Gary Wood looped a 18 yard shot over the goal keeper into the net after the defence cleared a quality cross from Brian Hodkinson.Signol came right back and finished the half strongly.
The second lesson was one for the lads and the management team. For the boys, who came on as substitutes they really need to get properly warmed up before coming on the pitch, particularly when a game is moving at this kind of pace; all of them struggled to get into the game and this weakened the team considerably. For the management; 4 outfield subs not fully warmed up into a game like this was perhaps a mistake.
With all of the above going on Signol took control of the match and it was only a matter of time before the lack of shape in the Grove team gave them the opportunity they needed. After a throw in on the left the ball went slowly into the area past 3 stationary Grove players and a strong shot from the Signol forward beat Ben Andrew in goal who just managed to get a hand to it.
The pressure continued and with ten minutes to go Signol got a dubious free kick on the edge of the area. A poorly hit cross bounced between and behind the defence who stood looking at it and it's sheer lack of pace seemed to confuse Ben who dived too soon and missed it completely to let in one of the softest goals of the year.
The final lesson to take from this game was that when you play against a team like Signol you need to be fully committed . There was a huge amount of individual and team spirit as well as great determination from the Signol team that only one or two Grove players could match. Without spirit and determination the team will struggle.