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This was a hugely improved performance by Carshalton's under 9s, as had been asked for by the management.  Camberley certainly contributed significantly to this game which showed so many good things about youth football - passion, skill and good sportsmanship on the pitch; encouragement, restraint and understanding off it.  Well done to both sets of supporters and players.

The game was very even until a through ball found Jordan on the shoulder of the last Camberley defender.  He turned and took the ball on to the keeper before slotting coolly home.  The tackling was a lot sharper, with Ben showing his strength at the back, and Luke running non stop in midfield.  I thought it was his best game of the season.  Though there were chances at both ends, the score at half time remained 1-0, when Carshalton made wholesale changes.

Lewis came on up front and had another fine game, scoring 2 and making another.  Indeed the goal he made was probably the best of the season.  Lewis used his pace to outflank their defence before squaring a perfect ball for Arran to run in and bury the ball from 6 yards - a training ground move!   That should have given us a bit of breathing sdpace, but Camberley continued to create chances - Dan making a couple of excellent saves and an almost identical move to our second goal should have reduced the deficit, but the ball went wide. The game flowed end to end and Camberley hit a post when through on the keeper.  At the other end, a couple of shots went just wide and there were a couple of frantic goalmouth scrambles with Joseph happy to get his head in where it hurts.  

Arran was causing all sorts of problems with his pace and control and was unfortunate on a couple of occasions not to add to his goal.  Carshalton managed to get their third, as Lewis drove the ball home, and then with 3 minutes to go, Lewis added a fourth with a snapshot that went into the roof of the net.  Jordan also crashed the ball against the underside of the bar, but there was no Russian linesman this time (Sorry Jordan, I have been reliably informed by those on the goal line that it did cross the line).

At the back, Owen had another excellent game until he received a nasty, though totally accidental, knock and came off near the end.  Conor's performance was much improved and his tackling as last man was crucial in the second half.

Still plenty we can improve on, and will need to during the run in to the end of the season, but it was encouraging to see that some of the things we have been working on in training are beginning to bear fruit.  Well done lads.  Keep up the good work in training this week.

Buzz