House of Windsor humbled by mighty U11 Lions

Last week's fixture postponement delayed the start to the season for the U11 Lions, but the extra training session this allowed paid dividends and the first taste of 9-a-side football proved to be a sweet one.

The Windsor Merlin Tornados produced little magic as the Lions took the game to them from the very start and the only twisters on the pitch were the mazy dribbles from the Lions - epitomised by Joe, who produced a man of the match performance.

It may have taken William The Conqueror 16 years to build Windsor Castle but it took barely 16 minutes for the Lions to reign in this most regal of market towns, in what was an impressive season opening performance.

A hat-trick from Sam, a brace each from Harry, Joe and Daniel and one each from Charlie and Sean led to a 11 goals for the away side without reply. The overall scoreline did little to flatter the Lions and in reality the outstanding player on the pitch was undoubtedly Windsor's goalkeeper. Had it not been for some fabulous saves and a bit of wasteful finishing the scoreline could easily have resembled a rugby match....

The first quarter saw the boys reacquaint themselves with the intensity of match-day, whilst simultaneously getting to grips with the larger pitch and playing with the off-side rule for the first time. The latter took a little getting used to and the first goal was chalked off for several of the Lions being over-eager as the Tornados held their defensive line well. But as the period went on the Lions became more comfortable with the changes 9-a-side brings and when Joe opened the scoring the final result had the air of the inevitable.

Once the first goal went in, the Lions went from strength to strength, adding three goals quickly into the second quarter and four in the third.
It was a harsh lesson for Windsor and the heads definitely dropped at this stage. The Lions also lost a bit of discipline and shape as eagerness to get on the score sheet led to bit of a free-for-all in the final quarter, when three further goals were added.

The boys conducted themselves extremely well, remembering the importance of remaining gracious in victory on what was a difficult day for Windsor.

Well done all - an impressive start to the season.