U9 Vipers
United made it five wins out of five this week with a victory over local rivals Caversham Trents.
Rotherfield got off to another very good start, racking up two goals in the first two minutes. Jack Stevens blasted home the first after Morgan green had won the ball in midfield and then Stevens combined with Liam Ruiz to play in Adam Fearnside for the second.
Just when United were looking comfortable, Caversham pulled one back when a free-kick took an unfortunate deflection straight into the Rotherfield goal. United could have gone further ahead when Stevens got his head to an inswinging corner, but the ball sailed just inches over the bar. It was Trents however who struck the next blow with a breakaway goal, and so despite the impressive start, United found themselves level again at 2-2.
Rotherfield's early confidence seemed dented and it was only some timely interceptions from Kalhan Shah, coupled with saves from 'keeper Isaac Hylton that helped to steady the ship. It wasn't long however before United began to create more chances of their own and were unlucky not to score when Fearnside collected a short corner and fired it against the crossbar. Minutes later though Jack Williams played the ball to Fearnside again who this time grabbed his second with a speculative effort from the half-way line which caught the keeper unawares.
After the interval, Fearnside again hit the woodwork from distance but Caversham were still very much in the game and almost levelled it with a header which just grazed the bar. Another nervy period saw some dogged defending from Owen Lowe, Shah and Williams, but eventually United were able to get the all important fourth goal when Fearnside played the ball to Nick Swan who grabbed his fifth of the season with a well-struck shot. With five minutes to go, Fearnside and Swan combined again to create an exact replica of the fourth goal and put the result beyond doubt at 5-2.
In the closing stages, Hylton produced another fine save to cap an excellent performance that earned him the game's effort award.
Photos (thanks Tom & Steen)
Squad
Isaac Hylton, Jack Williams, Kalhan Shah, Liam Ruiz, Adam Fearnside, Owen Lowe, Nick Swan, Morgan Green, Jack Stevens