Badgers Start Season in Style!

WCFC U15s The Badgers started their 22/23 season with a commanding win over league newcomers Durrington at a sun-drenched Northbrook Stadium today. The Badgers were forced into a switch in the warmup with Jack P carrying a slight injury, so captain Bailey moved over from left back to left centre half and Joe came in at left back. There was an impeccably observed 1 minute silence before the game and all the players wore black armbands in respect for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Badgers made the strong start to the game that the coaches had asked for, winning first tackles and personal duels all over the pitch. This enabled them to gain control of the midfield and press high up the pitch, in a pattern that was to continue throughout the game. Durrington were only dangerous sporadically on the break, though it took a brave block from Lewis after 3 mins to stop them taking the lead. The Badgers first attack saw Jack cut in from the left and draw a good save from the Durrington keeper with a fierce shot from the rebound by Sonny blocked. The keeper then again kept Durrington level with an excellent double save, firstly keeping out Jack's low drive from the edge of the box but them more impressively got up quickly to block the rebound from Nathan. At the other end, a hopeful long ball over the top required William in the Badgers goal to come out to the edge of his box and show strength to block an attempted lob from the Durrington striker. The goal the Badgers had been threatening right from the start finally came on 19 minutes when from a Bailey corner from the left, the ball broke to Jack hanging back on the far past and he planted it firmly into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 1-0. In a tactical switch, Louis was introduced up front to use his physical presence to give the Durrington defence a different challenge. The move paid off immediately when after 22 minutes, Eddie won a crunching tackle on the right to release Jack and his cross was swept home by Louis from close range. The Bagers were now in complete control, with Ashton looking constantly dangerous pushing forward from left midfield and Toby playing probing balls inside the full backs. The 3rd goal came after 25 minutes in an almost carbon copy of the first, the ball again falling to Jack in the box following a Bailey corner from the left, only this time he lashed it across goal into the far corner. That stirred a response from Durrington and only a great punch from Badgers keeper William from a dangerous corner when under tremendous pressure and a block in the box from Eddie from a Durrington free kick prevented them pulling one back. The half ended when a free kick from Bailey was headed off the line by a Durrington defender, to leave the score 3-0 at half-time.

Durrington started the second half brightly but, pushing men forward, were hit by a devastating counterattack by the Badgers, with goal-machine Jack cutting in from the left and firing a fierce shot from outside the box high into the Durrington net to make it 4-0 and complete yet another brilliant hat trick. To their credit Durrington hadn't given up and pulled one back when speculative long-range shot came back off the cross bar and the Durrington striker reacted quickest to fire it into the bottom of the Badgers net. It was somewhat against the run of play, however. The Badgers' defence with Jack P now at centre half were winning strong tackles and both full backs of Joe, enjoying a highly impressive league debut at left back, and Harvey at right able to push forward into attack. It was Harvey winning the ball up the pitch that led to a through ball from man of the match Nathan, enjoying himself up front, playing a through ball for Ashton to steal in from the left to direct into the bottom corner for 5-1, a goal his all-round performance deserved. 10 minutes later and it was 6-1 when, in possibly the passing move of the game, Lewis and Nathan played a one-two on the edge of the box to release Jack to score his fourth. Harvey then fizzed a long range shot just wide and Toby released Sonny surging forward in a lung-busting run to draw another save from the Durrington keeper. However, with 10 minutes left, it was Louis who completed the scoring with his second, lashing in another corner from Bailey from the right to the immense satisfaction of the Badgers coaches to see such a potent weapon finally result in 3 goals in one game. So it ended 7-1 to the Badgers, an entertaining game they dominated from start to finish with an excellent collective team performance that every player contributed to. It bodes well for the more difficult challenges to come.