Our U11Bs were split into two teams for the visit of Ardvreck and Merchiston.

The first match, Ardvreck made a blistering start after a bit of a mix-up at the back between Johnnie and first half goalkeeper, Monty. Jack equalised with a short corner but Ardvreck were ahead again scoring 3 goals in quick succession. Despite having the bulk of possession, we were left exposed at the back with our flat line and Ardvreck caught us on the break too easily. Jack managed to cut the deficit to just 2 by scoring from his own rebounded shot off the keeper.  

At the break, we regrouped and talked about how were a bit timid in front of goal in the first half. In the second half we were much more composed in front of goal and more solid in defence, especially with Johnnie's more aggressive block defending and Blake was cutting out a lot of the through balls from Ardvreck. Salman was playing with his head up more, was more composed on the ball and didn't panic with the rushing forward of the visiting attackers. He and Michael played some lovely balls into the midfield

Going forward, we were much better at passing strongly and quickly and when Ethan, Monty and Max moved the ball around the defence, it came back to Jack at the top of the D and he scored the goal of the day with a reverse hit, high into the net. Our tails were up and we got 3 further goals to complete a terrific comeback winning 6-4. Man of the match was Captain Jack who led his team well from the front and for getting his hattrick

The other team were up against Merchiston who we had faced earlier in the season. We played some wonderful hockey in this game, moving the ball around the back, linking up with one another and some strong defending. Oliver opened the scoring after some individual skill to beat the last defender before setting up Honour who reacted well to the cut back to get the second goal. Stuart was commanding at the back in the first half and Miguel was making good decisions in the middle, looking up and creating the one-two's with Finlay who was finding lots of space out wide and was picking up the ball nicely on his reverse. It was great to see Freddie getting on the scoresheet with an accurate push into the corner giving their keeper no chance. 

David was the energy we needed in the middle and didn't stop running and was constantly hounding the back line of Merchiston, preventing them from getting the ball forward. They did, however, began to find their way into the game and when they took the ball wider, they then found the space in behind and Seb was left a bit exposed by our defence. In the second half, he was called upon again but made some excellent saves and began to command his D much more. Bertie got his brace in quick succession and looked more comfortable up front, always trying to make a late run in behind the defence.

Merchiston scored a couple of goals in the last 10 minutes to make it a nervy finish but we held on for an 8-6 win and the man of the match was awarded to Honour for his outstanding tackling in the second half and to Oliver for his goals.