A HAT-TRICK OF HAT-TRICKS!

Longniddry Villa 0 - 9 MYS Blue Stripes (8Nov08)

We were without Cameron (ill) as we resumed our league fixtures against Longniddry Villa, however we were not as badly affected as our opponents who had lost a number of players to a sickness bug. However to their credit they were happy to fulfil the fixture and in the first period, their determination and some inspired goalkeeping restricted us to only having a one goal lead after 15 minutes.

We certainly had the upper hand in the first period, however for all our pressure it was only a flowing move between Ben and Owain that created the chance for Jason to finish. The other highlight of the first period was a good passing move between Jason and Ben, which led to a chance for Owain whose shot struck the outside of the post.

In the second period we made our customary changes, however we simply picked up where we left off at the end of the first period. Owain was now playing left midfield and Longniddry were finding it difficult to contain his lung bursting runs, one of which led to Brendan firing a shot just wide. At the other end, Jason made a great save on one of Longniddry’s rare forays into our half. However we knew that we had to capitalise on all the possession we were enjoying and it wasn’t long before Ben was able to double our lead by poking the ball home after good work from Keiron who was now playing in the middle of midfield. It was his determination to win the ball back which created Ben’s goal. Shortly afterwards Ben moved into centre midfield with Keiron now playing wide right, and Ben was able to cut out a clearance from the keeper and fire home an unstoppable shot to enable us to finish the second period 3-0.

In the third and fourth periods we seemed to relax, enjoy ourselves more and consequently we found it a bit easier to score. Our fourth from Ben was the result of a good move down the left involving Jason and Lennon, with Ben converting the cross from Lennon to complete his hat-trick. It was good to see Ben back amongst the goals. It was another sweeping move down the left involving Ethan and Lennon which saw Jason take the cross in his stride, beat two players and literally walk the ball into the net. Amidst the goals in the third period Lennon hit the post and Keiron hit a shot just wide after good link up play with Lennon. Just before the end of the end of the third period, Jason completed his hat-trick following good play from Ethan and Lennon.

In the last period, Ben went in goal, Brendan and Jamie were in defence and Scott assumed responsibility for controlling the game in centre midfield.

With Keiron now playing as striker he poked home his first and our seventh from a shot by Lennon which the keeper saved but couldn’t hold. Lennon showed some individual skill in side-stepping the defender to create room for the shot. Shortly afterwards, a great pass from Jamie deep inside his own half picked out Keiron who ran on to score his second and our eighth. This gave Keiron the confidence he sometimes needs to intercept a cross from Lennon on the run, control the ball and finish in one flowing movement. An excellent individual goal which gave Keiron his hat-trick and allowed us to finish the game 9-0.

It was another good team performance in which everyone played a major part in achieving the result. Whilst it may be natural to only look at the goalscorers, it wouldn’t explain the contribution made by Scott, Ethan, Brendan, Jamie, Lennon and Owain. We are becoming a very adaptable team and defensively we are benefiting from the partnerships formed by Scott & Jamie and Brendan & Ethan and whilst they don’t possibly grab the headlines by the goals they score, all their team-mates know it is their efforts that lay the foundations for our convincing victories. In addition you have Owain who can play in any one of 4 or 5 positions and who displays a fantastic attitude to wherever he is asked to play and Lennon who is beginning to understand when to make the pass to capitalise on his undoubted individual talent. Finally in relation to Jason, Ben and Keiron, they continue to demonstrate that given the opportunity, they will take their chances and it is pleasing that we have so many players in the team who can score goals. I n addition to the goals, they are all good team players who are equally happy creating chances for others.

Teamsheet: Owain, Scott, Jamie, Brendan, Ethan, Ben, Jason, Keiron, & Lennon

Goal scorers: Ben (3), Jason (3) & Keiron (3)