For the third consecutive season we tackled Bury Town in a Qualifying Round of the FA Youth Cup with a home tie against Colchester United awaiting the winners.

In front of a three figure crowd, we started brightly with Adam Marriott and Jordan Patrick looking especially dangerous around the edge of their box. Understandably, Bury defended in numbers and as the half progressed without the early breakthrough, we became frustrated and less likely to break down their packed defence.

When teams defend deep and put ten players behind the ball, it is vital that you stretch the pitch from side to side as much as possible because there is no space in behind them. You can then get round them on the outside by quickly switching play or over hitting diagonal passes with the wide men pushed high and wide. Alternatively, if they become stretched in stopping the wide players, space is created to play through them.

Unfortunately, we looked to do the latter without having done the former, so it was easy for them to remain compact, deny us space and make it difficult for us to find Adam Marriott's feet in his customary position as a deep lying second forward. The key word in that summary was "quickly" and again we failed to inject the right tempo by moving the ball too slowly and taking too many touches.

Therefore, Nolan and I were pleased to get the players sat down at half time to correct the problems and the result was almost immediate. Within two minutes of the restart, we managed to isolate Jordan Patrick on our left flank, he skinned the full back, delivered an inviting cross and Jack Eades at last got across his marker to head into the top corner from ten yards out. I say "at last" because Jack and JP could score so many goals from each other's crosses if they made positive movements across or pulling off the back of defenders at the far post. We talk and work on it endlessly, so it was pleasing to see Jack finally deliver.

Surprisingly, our most uncertain spell came after our goal, although it was a very soft penalty that gave our visitors a lifeline. Fortunately, their striker struck the ball in exactly the place he scored from the spot in the previous round and Richard Mace, having been informed of his preference, dived to his right to make the save. Rich then made another excellent stop from a fiercely struck shot following a half cleared long throw in to keep our lead intact.

The game was effectively put to bed on 70 minutes. JP repeated his earlier exploits on the left wing and the cross he delivered with the outside of his right foot was expertly headed into the roof of the net at the near post by Adam Marriott. Another pleasing moment as 'Maz' timed his run to perfection in an area where he must score more goals. His next finish to make it 3-0 was sublime and typical of the talent we know he possesses and marks him out as such an exciting prospect.

The final twenty minutes allowed us to make some changes to give the likes of Josh Cooper, Luke Hipwell and Jack Bailey a taste of the action and the latter almost made it four in the dying moments from our best move of the match, initiated by 15 year old Jackson Ramm.

The way in which Jackson marauded down the right all second half, displaying his poise, pace and balance means that it is no surprise that he is attracting the interest of a clutch of Premiership clubs. I would also like to highlight the performance of the other full-back, Owen Kessack, who deputised admirably for the injured Sam Parkinson. Owen's opportunities so far this season have been limited but he has displayed good resilience, worked hard in training and it was pleasing to see him acquit himself so well.

Team:
Mace, Ramm, Kessack, Coakley, Hudson, Ives, Eades (Cooper 76), Berry (Hipwell 78), Yambasu (Bailey 70), Patrick

The next tie at home against Colchester United will be played at the Trade Recruitment Stadium in the week commencing Monday 3rd November. The exact arrangements will be announced on Monday 27th October.

Jez George

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