Boys Football

Royal Russell U13As 2-2 Whitgift

The U13s kicked off their season on Friday with a very impressive display against a stron Whitgift team which last year had beaten them 10-0 in the same fixture.

Royal Russell got off to a great start as they dominated possession with Harry Payne and Sam Hubbard instrumental to the way they were moving the ball and switching play. Inside 2 minutes Harry Payne had a volley saved comfortably, after a great 20 pass passage. Royal Russell continued to dominate and Maaliq Peter-Riley, who had an excellent game, hit the post with his left foot. Potentially the best chance of the half however fell to Whitgift as their striker looked destined to certainly score. Hughie Cousins had other ideas as he pulled off an unbelievable save to keep the score 0-0 going into half time.

Whitgift started to stamp their authority on the game by pressing Royal Russell and started to look a threat. Keeyan Davison pressed well from a Whitgift goal kick and struck a good effort on his right foot which went in 1-0.

It was soon 2 when Harry Payne hit a good free kick from 30 yards which the GK couldn’t hold and Justin Jervis was on hand to tap home on his Royal Russell debut. 2-0. The rest of the half saw Royal Russell defend with great determination and togetherness and were on the verge to a fantastic 2-0 win. They however conceded with less than 5 minutes to play which left a nervy ending. Whitgift broke with less than a minute to play and the recovering Russell defender nudged the Whitgift player in the box and the referee awarded to the spot for a Whitgift penalty. The Whitgift player scored. 2-2

Believe it or not there was still one more chance as the Whitgift striker found himself open 5 yards from goal and if it wasn’t for an outstanding Hughie Cousins save Russell could have somehow lost the game.

A very impressive display from the U13s who played some outstanding football at times and were so close to an excellent win. Nonetheless a proud performance especially considering they had previously lost to the same team 10-0 last season.

Player of the match: Hughie Cousins

Goal scorers: Keeyan Davison, Justin Jervis

assists: Harry Payne