Horsforth St. Margaret's U-11s Colts 2
Horsforth St. Margaret's U-11s Reds 0

Date: Sunday, January 6
Competition: Craven League

A large crowd gathered in the winter sunshine for the eagerly awaited local derby between Horsforth Reds and the undefeated Horsforth Colts. Having been soundly beaten by the Colts in a pre-season friendly, this match would prove an excellent barometer for the progress made by the rapidly developing Reds team.

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The spectators' pre-match nerves were exacerbated by a delayed kick-off, caused by the disappearance of the official match referee. Rumours of skullduggery were rife amongst the crowd, and the conspiracy theories were heightened when the Reds team coach took over the reffing duties. Any dubious decisions given in favour of his team would be hotly disputed.

The match finally kicked off half an hour late, and the opposing teams wasted no time in entering into the battle. It came as no surprise that the Colts, hot favourites for this match, dominated the early stages and Nathan Robson, their goalkeeper, was merely a spectator. However, it was very apparent that the gap between the teams had narrowed greatly since the start of the season.

The once porous Red's defense was fighting like tigers to repel the waves of attacks from the Colts. Outstanding at the back for the Reds were Thomas Filarowski, Sam Cole, Andrew Parsons and the excellent new signing, Michael Gibbon. Alex Fox-Bullivant was again looking commanding in goal and he handled everything the Colts threw at him.

In midfield, Sam Hughes, Miles Tidman,Josh Pheasey, and Oliver Poulton battled hard but struggled to get a grip of the game against a Colts team that were clearly brimming with confidence. There was little opportunity for the Reds strike-force of Matthew Raby and Joe Rainford to have an impact on the game, but they ran tirelessly and scrapped for every ball that came their way.

Although the Reds gradually fought their way into the game, the Colts continued to look sharper and they were piling on the pressure. It came as no surprise when they took the lead following ball won by Reece Grubb and an excellent run by the quicksilver Ally Unsworth who beat two defenders before slamming the ball home despite a despairing dive by Alex.  

Any notion that this would lead to an avalanche of goals for the Colts were quickly dispelled as the resolute Reds fought back, determined not to be overrun. A curling free-kick by Sam Cole went close then a surging foray by Sam Hughes nearly brought about the equaliser as his searing shot from 20 yards was half saved by Nathan. The ball dribbled agonisingly towards the goal, but was saved in the nick of time as the keeper leapt back to pounce on the ball.

The whistle blew for half time, which came as a relief to the large crowd, whose fingernails needed some respite.

The pattern for the match continued, with the Colts on top but never threatening to run away with the game.

Ally Unsworth was looking very sharp in attack for the Colts and in defense Thomas and Christian were in commanding form. To inject some extra urgency for the Reds, Kaylem King, Callum Sharp and Leon Cowell were introduced to the fray and all three gave 100 per cent effort.

The Reds were starting to look dangerous on the break, and Matthew Raby broke clear following an incisive through ball by Oliver Poulton, but his shot was comfortably saved. More pressure followed as the Reds desperately sought the equaliser that was merited by the sheer determination that all their players showed. However the ball never quite broke for them around the penalty area and they couldn't carve out any clear-cut chances.

As the match started to get stretched, space began to form for the Colts attack and only excellent last ditch tackles by Sam Cole and Michael Gibbon, and solid goalkeeping by Alex, kept the score down. As the final whistle approached, it was clear that the Reds were not going to grab the equaliser they so desperately wanted and the match was killed off by a second goal by Ally Unsworth, sliding the ball home despite a heroic effort to clear the ball by Kaylem King.
  
The final whistle blew to rapturous applause from both sets of supporters, who were enthralled by this stirring encounter. Congratulations to the Colts who deserved their victory, and also to the Reds who have improved immensely since the start of the season.

Both teams can look forward to a successful second half of the season and the re-match will be eagerly anticipated by both teams!

The win keeps the Colts hot on the heels of the runaway league leaders while the Reds can look forward to a double header with Shipley to consolidate their top half position.

The Reds line up: 1. Alex, 16.Michael, 10.Sam C, 4. Andrew, 3.Thomas, 8.Sam H, 21.Kaylem, 5. Oliver, 7.Joe, 9.Matthew, 12.Miles, Subs: 14. Leon, 15. Josh, 2.Callum.