Razor FC Youth u13 - Avon League - Bath Arsenal

MATCH REPORT | Razor FC U13s 1-2 Bath Arsenal

Whilst we hadn’t faced Bath Arsenal as Razor before, we knew a number of their players well through links with other teams, so we were aware they had some very dangerous individuals capable of playing around and through sides.

We started in our usual 2-3-3, but went behind to an unfortunate deflected goal. Bath Arsenal quickly settled and showed they are a very good footballing side. At times they were able to overrun us in midfield, with Franklyn operating as our sole central midfielder, so we made a change by moving to a back three and pushing Isaac into midfield. That helped us settle and allowed us to compete more effectively.

Even so, we were still guilty of giving the ball back too easily at times. We never really looked like conceding again in the first half, but equally we didn’t do enough to test Beau in the Bath goal, so we went in 1-0 down at the break with it still all to play for.

Bath began the second half strongly and enjoyed a lot of possession without creating too much, until they worked a good second goal. To the boys’ credit, they never let that knock them off course. There were some good passages of football from us and we looked dangerous on the break, although a lot of our attacks were dealt with well by Theo at the back for Bath.

Defensively, we stayed strong for the remainder of the game. Owen WW in particular carried on from his Man of the Match display in the previous game and was superb again.

We got a deserved consolation through another Teddy free-kick. He has been working hard on different ways to take free-kicks, knowing that the knuckleball approach is not always the best option. This time he produced a beautiful effort curled right into the top corner, giving Beau no chance.

There is plenty for the boys to work on as we taste defeat for the first time this season, but we won’t dwell too much on the result.

Friendlies can often be difficult to judge properly, especially when you have five subs and are trying to accommodate everybody. It naturally disrupts the flow of the game and just as players begin to settle, they may be coming back off.

Don't forget to vote for your Player of the match!

Onwards and upwards now, and back to league action next week with an away trip to Mangotsfield.