U13 LIGERS FIREWORKS BRING DOWN ROCKETS

Ligers fired their way into the quarter-finals of the EBFA Trophy with a heart-stopping victory over Div D opponents. A hard fought win against Camberley Town Rockets will send Ligers to Woodley Saints Panthers for the last eight round.

On a sunny November morning, Ligers were quick to establish their intent with a clever through ball from Gabriel putting George L in on goal for a 1-0 lead inside two minutes. But Rockets are a big, well-organised side and they were equally quick to capitalise on a horrible mix-up in the Hearts defence when Dylan and Joe both left an innocuous ball; Rockets nipped in and Amir levelled the scores. Ligers were generally well-disciplined across the back four and the midfield battled hard and put together several excellent passing moves. So when Rockets took the lead after quarter of an hour, it looked like the higher level experience may be enough to see the Surrey team home. Matt always looked confident when using his hands but too often tried to cut out the ball with his feet, and he wasn’t the only Hearts player to struggle with the uneven surface of Lincoln Field. The Hearts midfield of Dylan, Hayden, Gabe and John increasingly worked hard to help out the defence and to provide the easy ball out for Zak and Rufus. It was to pay huge dividends and by half-time Ligers had taken the game by the throat and were in the ascendency with goals from Dylan, George L and Ilyas, turning round 4-2 up.

Coach Wallis made a raft of changes at the break, changing both full-backs amongst five substitutions. There was a feeling in the crowd that another goal was still needed for Ligers to make the tie safe, and Rockets now had the benefit of the strong, low winter sun. Within a minute, a glorious pass from George PM put George L in for his hat-trick and Ligers’ fifth. Rockets were not going to give up this cup tie without a real tussle, however, and they began to expose Ligers left-side. As Rockets piled on the pressure the gap between the Ligers defence and midfield seemed to grow ever larger and there was nowhere for the excellent and hard-worked Joe to get the ball upfield. Frazer occasionally made some hard yards but with Gabe having to double up with Tommy, and Sam helping James on the right, the two Georges were struggling to get any ball in the last third. Ryan Rena pulled back two goals for the visitors and it was only the offside trap and one superb left-handed save by Matt that prevented control from swinging completely away from Ligers. Gabriel swapped with Tommy, and the former’s strength and speed closed down one of Rockets more fruitful entry points. Amir nearly levelled the scores on 56 minutes as a well-struck shot from outside the penalty area just failed to curl inside the post with Matt well-beaten. It was against the run of play and with some relief that George PM and Frazer managed to sustain a rare Ligers attack and Dylan popped up to do what he’s made a habit of doing this autumn, knock home the winner.

It wasn’t the end of events. Ligers were unable to count the clock down, and Daniel Sheppard nicked a fifth for Rockets to make the last minutes very tense. Fortunately, Rockets couldn’t find the target again and Ligers claimed a very hard fought victory.

There were outstanding performances from Joe who made a habit of being in the right place every time, and Toby was quietly composed throughout. Hayden, Ilyas, John, Frazer and George PM contributed well for their 35 minutes. It was mainly lack of communication that upset Ligers’ equilibrium and the reluctance of two or three players to battle to regain lost possession, leaving their teammates outnumbered and overrun. But a win against opposition from a higher league is a great scalp for the boys and they can certainly view the quarter-final with confidence.