Badgers Held by Eagles

WCFC U13s The Badgers continued their unbeaten run at a sun-drenched Northbrook Stadium on Sunday in a highly entertaining and competitive friendly against Larkhall Eagles. With their opposition unbeaten themselves in the division above, the Badgers made a characteristic strong start, their attacking 4-3-3 formation forcing the Eagles back. it was no surprise when the Badgers took the lead with the move of the match. A lovely interchange down the right ended with Ashton playing in Lewis and his deft early cross was met by Jack with a bullet header that flashed past the stunned Eagles keeper. It was no more than the Badgers deserved, with the midfield trio of Toby, Jenson and Lewis dominating the centre of the park, being first to most balls and launching attacks through William D, Louis and Jack. The 1-0 scoreline at the end of the quarter was well deserved.

The second quarter saw the Eagles up their game and make a tactical change to match up the Badgers, starting to push Badgers deeper into their own half. Initially, the Badgers' defence held firm, well marshalled by skipper Oli anticipating and covering danger and with centre-half partner Bailey attacking the space between defence and midfield with great authority. However, the pressure finally told with the Eagles scoring two quick goals: the first a nicely curled in shot from the edge of the box when the Eagles high press won the ball as the Badgers tried to play out from the back, the second when the Eagles strong centre half broke through the centre, riding four tackles before firing a low shot into the bottom corner despite a desperate dive from Badgers' keeper Eddie. The Badgers' coaches responded immediately with a tactical move of their own, switching to 4-4-2 by introducing William G to add bite in central midfield alongside Toby. The move almost paid dividends straight way, when William won the ball and fed Louis, whose fantastic through ball put Jack clear. His powerful shot was heading straight for the bottom corner before the Eagles keeper produced an excellent full length finger tip save to push the ball around the post, preserving the Eagles lead at half time.

The third quarter was much more even, with both sides attacking with intent and the game becoming stretched. Teddy was now prominent at left back, proactively intercepting a number of balls with his pace and driving the Badgers forward., interacting well with William D. The equaliser the team deserved finally came when a superb long range shot from the dynamic Toby from the right hand side hit the crossbar and rebounded off the unfortunate Eagles keeper into the path of Louis who, like all good strikers, was following in to nod the ball over the line.

The final quarter saw the Badgers in the ascendancy, upping their game and showing great fitness and character. Reverting back to 4-3-3 with Man of the Match William G now partnering Oli at the back and Jenson working tirelessly in central midfield closing down, the Badgers retook the lead. William D, who had a fierce battle with the Eagles full back all afternoon, got the better of him and in another move straight of the training ground whipped in a wicked cross from the left that Jack was ready to pounce on before the unfortunate Eagles defender turned it into his own net. It looked like the Badgers would hold on for the win, with Sonny now leading the way defending from the front with bite and hunger and Theo at right back neutralising the Eagles threat from the flank. But it wasn't to be and with just a few minutes remaining, the Eagles produced a lovely series of passes that ended with their striker sweeping the ball past the Badgers' keeper Eddie. And so it ended in a draw that was probably a fair result. The Badgers produced another excellent performance from the whole squad, competing extremely well with their talented opponents from the division above, in a result that was great preparation for what are likely to be season defining league games coming up against table topping Chippenham.