HBU Under 13’s Have not lost and results show promise but the Manager Paul McVey will be expecting improvements when they next meet.
EC U/13 Div 1 – Peterborough; Sat 6th Oct.
Herne Bay United competed in their 2nd tournament of the season, travelling to Peterborough to face three tough games.
First up was Peterborough, who are expected to challenge at the top of the table and HBUs usual slow starts saw them go one goal down when sloppy play allowed Peterborough to create multiple chances. HBU responded immediately to make the score 1-1, this pattern was repeated and the score at half time was 2-2 with George scoring both. The second half saw an improvement from HBU and a third from George saw HBU win 3-2, a deserved win on balance of play and a close game littered with errors and poor play.
The second game required a response from the team and they quickly went three up against last year’s Champions Kings Lynn with goals from Jamie and George, Kings Lynn then scored two through poor defending from HBU and a controversial refereeing decision saw Kings Lynn score and HBU go into the break 4-3 up. Kings Lynn scored twice in the second half and HBU fought back with a good team goal with Luke and Sian combining to equalise. HBU had the majority of the play and unfortunately squandered many chances and the game finished 5-5.
The last game against local rivals Herne Bay again saw the same pattern of play from the previous two games and HBU went one down, unable to break down Herne Bay’s tight defence, not surprising given the pedestrian pace of HBU play. Goals from Oli and Luke meant the score at half time was 2-1 and second half goals from Jamie, Oli and George saw HBU victors 6-1.
Coach Paul McVey commented ‘The mark of a good team is to not lose when playing badly. We finished the day with 2 wins and a draw, we did not lose and we did play badly!’
HBU still have a chance to win the league and improve on last season’s third place. However improvements will need to be seen in every area of the team performance with it fair to say that no player performed to the level they are capable.
Squad: Rhys Young(GK), (C) Jamie McVey(4), George Daly(6), Noah Latham, Luke Huckstepp(1), Oli Hudson (2), Sian Emslie(1)
