U16s vs Ashtead

The u16’S hosted Ashtead on the 3G pitch and with a number of players returning from injury, confidence was high.

Abbey lined up with a 4-3-3; Dylan Lawrance coming into the midfield alongside Alfie Bennet and Ethan Austin with the intention of controlling the middle of the park. Before the game we spoke about keeping the ball on the ground & playing quick passes and the switch to 4-3-3 definitely helped - it was all Abbey for the first 15 minutes; moving the ball around well and having the majority of play well inside the Ashtead half. Lots of neat passing and great supporting runs from Luca (Lb) & Nathan (Rb) caused Ashtead real problems, but instead of letting their shots go, the Abbey players were guilty of over cooking it at times and playing one pass too many.

After 15 minutes it was a shame to see Josh O’Neil come off feeling unwell but Ben Ayres went straight into centre of defence alongside Jack Harrington. Over the next 10 minutes Ashtead grew into the game but only really managed to send long balls over the top of the Abbey back line that were either picked up by Mikey Verga (Abbey GK) or dealt with by Jack and the defenders.

With 10 minutes left in the first half, George Marshall replaced Alfie Bennett and we switched back to our usual 4-2-3-1. This definitely helped the Abbey players settle again and they took hold of the game, passing the ball around nicely and switching it from left to right. An outstanding 20-25 yard pass from Ben Hall using the outside of his foot was great to see. Jamie Smith also worked hard up front and was unlucky when he crashed the ball onto the post instead of hitting the back of the net.... Ben Hall also did the same a few minutes later before the ref blew for half time and both teams came off at 0-0.

The second half started much like the first with Abbey playing a lot of neat passes but lacking a bit of decisiveness / quality in the final third. The passing and movement was great to watch but we were guilty of turning into players at times instead of turning out. However, the energy in the press remained high and on 70 minutes Dylan Lawrance nicked the ball from an Ashtead player before nutmegging another and surging down the left. As he got towards their box we all thought this would be a worthy match winner but the final shot pulled to the right and the Ashtead keeper watched it as it just slipped wide of his post.

Half chances continued to come for both sides with Jamie Smith missing one for Abbey and having another shot come back off the post for the third time in the game. This was all before Luca was forced into making a fantastic slide tackle on the edge of the Abbey box as Ashtead looked to nick it in the dying seconds.

All in all it was a very good performance from the lads and they played some great football. Although they went home feeling frustrated for not getting a well-deserved win, there’s lots for them to be pleased with and they should definitely take the positives.

MOTM: Dylan Lawrance - worked extremely hard throughout, pressed well and looked to counter at every opportunity. Unlucky not to get the winner which would’ve capped his performance nicely.

Jack Harrington was immense at the heart of the Abbey defence and on any other day would’ve taken the MOTM award comfortably. A great player and a great captain who always gives 100%.

It was also good to see Nathan Coles, Kian Bentley and Sammy Stetner returning from injury and putting in good performances.