🧡🖤 U11s – A Morning That Showed Exactly What We’re Building 🖤🧡
The U11s had two games this morning, but if I’m being completely honest, there was one game I cared about more than anything today.
Our first game was against local rivals Shelfield United, and before we even stepped onto the pitch, the message to the boys was simple:
Go out there and put into practice everything we’ve been working on in training and over the last few weeks of friendlies.
And what followed was, quite simply, outstanding.
It’s an understatement to say we played Shelfield off the pitch.
The boys were playing football that we have been working so hard on — quick one-twos, triangles, pass-and-go movements, creating angles, finding space and moving the ball quickly.
And this wasn’t just one or two moments of it.
It was happening consistently throughout the game.
For a group of ten-year-old boys, some of the football they produced was genuinely fantastic to watch. The movement off the ball was excellent, players were looking to support each other and, rather than trying to do everything individually, they were trusting their teammates and moving the ball.
The parents absolutely loved it, and the best thing of all was seeing the boys smiling, enjoying themselves and playing with freedom.
We also scored some fantastic goals along the way and finished the game with a well-deserved victory.
But honestly, the result wasn’t the most important part.
The performance was.
That was the football we’ve been talking about. That’s the football we’ve been working towards. And seeing the boys take it from the training ground into a competitive game was incredibly satisfying.
🆚 Huntington Harriers
The second game was a completely different challenge.
Huntington Harriers were much more aggressive in their approach and did a good job of disrupting the way we wanted to play. It made the game much more difficult, but importantly, it wasn’t because we lacked the technical ability.
The boys continued to try to play our football and, despite the disruption, I felt it was a very evenly matched and competitive game.
In fact, I thought our football was by far the better of the two teams.
We created chance after chance and had so many opportunities to find the breakthrough, but unfortunately the ball just wouldn’t go in.
The boys kept going, kept trying to play and kept creating, but sometimes football just doesn’t give you what you deserve.
With only a few minutes remaining, we had a moment we’d rather forget. A miss-kick at the back was followed by our goalkeeper being too far out of his goal and another unfortunate miss-kick, allowing the opposition to run through and score.
It was a frustrating way to concede, especially given the way the boys had played, but that’s football.
And despite the result, it was still a fantastic game from our boys.
They competed, they continued to try and play the right way and they showed that the football from the first game wasn’t a one-off.
🧡🖤 Final Thoughts
The U11s were superb today.
Results will always be part of football, but for us, it’s about building something and developing a team that understands how we want to play.
Today, we saw that starting to come together.
The quick combinations, the movement, the passing, the support, the willingness to play for each other and, most importantly, the enjoyment.
And it’s fantastic to hear the parents recognising what we’re doing and seeing the style of football we’re trying to develop.
There is still plenty to learn, and we’ll continue to work on the areas that need improving, but days like today give us huge confidence that the process is working.
The boys should be incredibly proud of themselves.
Keep playing. Keep learning. Keep enjoying it. 🧡🖤⚽
