FREDS BEAT LITTLEMORE AT ALFREDIAN PARK

Professional footballers have moments of imperfection, and 12 year olds should be allowed them too. Do professional players miss penalties, get free-kicks horribly wrong, lose possession, misplace a pass, lose control, make a wrong decision, allow opponents to get shots off from distance or react a fraction too late to a threat (and the list goes on)? Yes! Absolutely! All of these things happen at the highest level. Like professional footballers, U13's are human also, and it's human to err.

Of course, the goal is to strive for best practise, greater understanding, a good work ethic and positive attitude. If any errors are frequently repeated, we go to work as coach and player / or team unit, to improve. In the opening two fixtures we looked vulnerable to the ball in behind, and allowed a number of goals to be scored from outside the box. Clearly, there was work to do.

In response, the lads have adapted to a new starting shape with lots of natural triangles, and a stronger defensive foundation from which to build play from the back.

With just one session of match simulation under their belts, the players demonstrated an intelligent grasp of intended patterns and the footballing reasons for them, both in and out of possession. Harry Howard, Tom Todd and Will Nicol were absent and so received a much cruder version of it prior to kick off, and at times, excessive prompting from the touch line. It's a back four with a sweeper, and a midfield diamond (rough cut after just a week, but we'll polish). With two strikers, one to work sideways to provide an out for the full-backs and set up delivery behind the opponents' defence, and the other to play on the shoulder of the back line, looking to get in.

How satisfying to see the Alfredian Assassin race clear a number of times, scope his target and rifle home twice! How satisfying to see Matthew Lambe disciplined enough to hold his inside position and not encroach into the channel so he could release an overlapping Jacob Haines, who returned a killer pass into to the path of the advancing Lambe. The accomplished midfielder set himself quickly and thumped home from distance.

George Santacana-Melvin looked to plug the gap between the two strikers, trying to prevent passes out from the back, and offered cover for Harry Howard and Matthew Lambe when they needed to drift into the channel and delay opponents. Good job done.

Matthew Goodman provided THE FREDS, as always, with a composed Pirloesque presence in support at the foot of the diamond.

The full-backs looked to exploit the channels when appropriate, and were disciplined with their recovery lines. Stan Herbert dipped into defence to provide sweet cover for allsorts, and didn't he do well.

Littlemore scrambled a goal back before the interval, and hit a late consolation, but only after Hitman Hall had crafted a wonder goal with his left foot. Forced wide, the bolting wanderer (threw that one in for you, Andy Hall), checked inside and, from an acute angle, hit a worldy high and wide of the keeper.

Is the diamond forever?

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