U9 Vipers

Prosport Tournament
June 9th 2007

Rotherfield secured a triumphant end to their Prosport Summer League campaign by winning the final-day tournament - without conceding a single goal.

In the first game of the group stages United faced a strong Woodley Town Kestrels side; despite creating several good chances in the opening minutes, Rotherfield were unable to find a way through and the game finished 0-0. Maidenhead Boys were the opponents for game two and it wasn't long before United's fast-flowing passing game was causing them problems. Goals from Nick Swan and Jack Stevens helped secure the first win of the day and leave Rotherfield needing just a point from their last game to be sure of reaching the semi-finals. Woodley Wanderers proved difficult to break down in the third game; Owen Lowe twice came close to breaking the deadlock but with a just a few minutes left to play, an excellent individual goal from Jack Williams and then then another from Morgan Green gave United a 2-0 win and top spot in the group.

The semi-final draw paired Rotherfield with local rivals Caversham Trents - a re-run of last year's final in which Trents had emerged victorious following an extra-time golden goal. After a nervy start, United began to play some good football and within five minutes Adam Fearnside opened the scoring with a low drive from the edge of the box. Caversham searched for an equaliser, but Kalhan Shah was in fine form at the back making a number of crucial tackles to keep the score at 1-0. Rotherfield then produced one of the goals of the day to book their place in the final; Liam Ruiz played the ball to Fearnside who in turn found Swan whose cross was met first-time by Stevens and after a sweeping box to box move, the score was 2-0.

The final turned out to be a replay of the day's first fixture, since the Kestrels had progressed through their own epic semi-final, beating Woodley Saints in extra-time. This time though, United had the edge; Ruiz and Fearnside combined again to play in Stevens who fired in his third of the day, making the score 1-0. With Shah and Williams doing an excellent job of protecting 'keeper Isaac Hylton, Woodley were unable to find an equaliser in the remaining few minutes and Rotherfield held on until the final whistle to become Prosport Tournament winners.

Photos

Squad

Isaac Hylton, Kalhan Shah, Jack Williams, Morgan Green, Nick Swan, Liam Ruiz, Jack Stevens, Owen Lowe, Adam Fearnside