U12s Rosso vs AFC Guiseley (A) CUP
A very tough cup game against Guiseley AFC resulted in a 8-0 defeat for Calcio Rosso, though despite the scoreline, the boys had a lot to be proud of.
Calcio started very brightly, and in the first few minutes they produced several passages of flowing football, with moves from back to front. However, five minutes in, a long curler squeezed through a crowd of bodies that left the goalkeeper unsighted, and we fell 1-0 down.
Three minutes later, Calcio conceded another goal that we might well consider unlucky, as having pressured the Guiseley winger well, his cross took a wicked deflection, and the ball ballooned into the air before dropping in the far top corner, to leave the game 2-0.
Despite conceding two quick-fire goals, Calcio continued to play confidently, and for the next fifteen minutes very much held their own. Having worked on pressing for the past two weeks in training, the boys put their practice into action, oftentimes seriously worrying the Guiseley defenders. In particular, captain Hugo Gescer’s workrate was phenomenal, effectively forcing Guisely out wide, allowing his teammates to apply pressure in much smaller areas.
Unfortunately, it was from a wide area that Guiseley scored their next goal. Having given away a free kick near the touchline, one could be forgiven for thinking that Calcio would be fairly safe. However, in fairness to the Guiseley player, the strike was wonderful, and the ball rifled into the far top corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.
Three minutes later, the trend of conceding seemingly highly unlikely goals continued. Guiseley played a long, straight, looping ball out from the back. As their striker was running in behind, barely looking at the ball, it landed on the back of his shoulder, bounced up nicely, and was struck viciously from distance over the goalkeeper, leaving him little chance.
Three more minutes later, a good Guiseley press nicked the ball by the touchline, about 30 yards out. A square pass inside then found a Guisely teammate, who smashed another stinger from distance, leaving Calcio 5-0 down at halftime, despite doing little wrong.
In truth, the first half was so much more positive than it sounds. We pressed very effectively, and arguably put together the nicer passing moves. However, the combination of misfortune and excellent Guiseley ball-striking (the combined distance of these five goals was well over 100 yards) resulted in the one-sided scoreline.
The second half started in the worst possible way for Calcio. In a similar manner to the fifth goal, a strong Guiseley press won the ball out wide. This time, an excellent cross picked out an onrushing teammate at the back post for a simple tap-in: the first time they scored from inside the box!
Calcio continued to try to play their football properly, and to our credit, we did some good stuff. The boys never let their heads drop, and the effort was there throughout. We continued to press aggressively, and gave the Guiseley players little time on the ball. It did seem as though we might be the next to score, but 18 minutes in, Guiseley managed to play out from the back before converting their chance to go 7-0 up.
With ten minutes of the match to go, a long Guiseley throw bounced around in the box. Their striker was quickest to react, just beating our goalkeeper to it and flicking the ball over his head for his teammate to tap in. The score remained 8-0 until fulltime.
Despite the scoreline, I could not be more proud of the effort, commitment, and bravery of the Calcio players. Against a very strong Guiseley team, bad weather, and a lot of misfortune, the players kept to their task, worked hard for each other, and played their football fearlessly. The game will be a learning experience, but should still be looked back upon with some positivity.
Next week’s game is against Motion Sports.
