U9 Vipers
United made it three wins out of three this week after winning a hard-fought game against Woodley Town Kestrels White.
Rotherfield had the better of the opening stages and broke the deadlock after seven minutes when a lovely through-ball from Nick Swan found Jack Stevens who slotted it past the Kestrels' keeper. United continued to press, forcing a succession of corners which Woodley were struggling to deal with; eventually, one such corner paid dividends with defender Jack Williams forcing the ball over the line after a goalmouth melee, making it 2-0.
Just before half-time, Woodley almost got one back with a good shot from outside the box; fortunately, Owen Lowe pulled off a terrific save diving to his right, enabling United to maintain their lead to the interval.
In the second half, the Kestrels kept up the pressure and were unlucky not to get one back when a corner was headed just wide. Rotherfield could have extended their lead moments later when a Liam Ruiz pass found Adam Fearnside who made a characteristic run down the right wing and fired in a vicious shot that struck the bar but bounced away to safety.
It was Woodley however who got the next goal; a close-range shot that found the bottom right corner. The Kestrels were clearly spurred on, and sensing an equaliser, were pushing United deep into their own half. Isaac Hylton pulled off a fine save from a Woodley corner and only some dogged defending from Kalhan Shah, Morgan Green and Jack Williams kept the score at 2-1.
Jack Stevens came to Rotherfield's rescue with a great individual effort, having knocked the ball around one side of the defender and run around the other, he made no mistake in blasting in his second of the game. Fearnside almost made it four right at the death when another long-range effort was tipped onto the bar by an inspired Woodley keeper.
The effort award was given to Kalhan Shah for a determined defensive performance.
Photos (thanks Tom & Steen)
Squad
Isaac Hylton, Jack Williams, Kalhan Shah, Liam Ruiz, Adam Fearnside, Owen Lowe, Nick Swan, Morgan Green, Jack Stevens