Romsey Town Youth u12 Lions 4 - 1 JAM Youth u12
After a fortnight break due to the previous week's game being postponed, Romsey Town under 12 Lions were back in action at the weekend in their Tyro Challenge Cup match against JAM Youth. Having played against each other in the league earlier in the season with Romsey coming out as 2-0 victors, both teams knew this was going to be a tough test.
The game started off in a cagey manner, with both teams trying to dominate and gain the upper hand. A mistake from a throw-in in the 8th minute from the Romsey defence let the JAM striker open the scoring from close range, putting the visitors 1-0 up. Instead of letting their heads drop, this spurred the Lions into action and five minutes after going behind, they levelled the score through Rory Ryan-Ward, who showed great strength and composure in the box to stroke the ball home following a corner. Romsey's score was almost doubled in the 17th minute by striker Charlie Skinner after he worked hard to close down a JAM defender after a short goal kick. However, the JAM goalkeeper pulled off a great save, diving low to his right and pushing the shot round the post for a corner. The home team took the lead in the 24th minute through Lincoln Davey-Smith, after a great interchange of play between he and his strike partner Charlie Skinner, with Lincoln finding the bottom corner of the net, despite the goalkeeper's best efforts. Two minutes later, JAM almost levelled it up from a free kick on the edge of the box, but the crossbar came to the Lions' rescue on this occasion. Almost immediately, Romsey broke up the pitch, with in-form striker Charlie proving too hot to handle for the JAM defence but, yet again, the crossbar was struck with the rebound being cleared, leaving the half time score at 2-1.
In the 36th minute of the match, Lions left-wing Deegan Hunt almost made it 3-1 to the home team. After some great work down the right-hand side, the ball was slid across the JAM six yard line, but despite Deegan's best efforts, he just couldn't stretch far enough to turn the ball home. Romsey were awarded a penalty in the 44th minute after Lincoln Davey-Smith latched onto a through-ball by Charlie Skinner. Bearing down on the goalkeeper and about to pull the trigger, Lincoln was bundled over in the penalty area, with the referee pointing to the spot without hesitation. Up stepped the ever-dependable right-back, Finley Nash, to smash the ball into the roof of the net from the spot to make it 3-1 to the Lions. Romsey were well on top at this point, working hard to break down any JAM attacks and imposing their style of play onto their opponents. This period of sustained pressure was rewarded in the 54th minute when central midfielder Rory Ryan-Ward played a sublime pass through the centre of JAM's defence, which was pounced upon by Lincoln Davey-Smith to grab his second goal of the game and the Lions' fourth. With three minutes to go, Romsey were unlucky not to make it 5-1 when left-back, Fraser Sayers, hammered the ball against the JAM crossbar from a tight angle.
All in all, a really solid performance from RTYFC under 12 Lions against a stubborn and determined opponent.
Player of the Match: Lincoln Davey-Smith
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