Report

U - 17'S LEAGUE CUP FINAL
GATESHEAD F.C  V  REDBY C.A
With this been our fourth competive match, against our tyneside rivals, & 3 losses to boot, it was time for a bit of revenge, & with a league appointed referee, plus 2 linesman, & a nice playing surface, i was optomistic of a result.
With a 14 man squad to select from, it was always going to be a tricky selection process, getting the right formation & the right lads in the posistions to stop Gateshead in there tracks. After much deliberation, i opted for Slocombe's physical, if not sometimes 'Physcotic' presence to the game, to partner Martin in the heart of the defence, & boy, did it work !! Sanderson went right back, Alston left back, with Thompson & Chicquel on the wings, & Pattison & Huntley filling midfield. Hargrave played off Nichol up front, with Winlow, Hubbard & Stoker filling the bench.
Straight from the off Redby went at Gateshead, with Chicquel, as he has done all season, getting right into the right back from the off. He put in a great ball for Hargrave, who just missed the chance for a glorious start. Gateshead then got a couple of early corners, but Redby coped with them know problem. Chicquel then opened the scoring, latching on to a great pass to beat his marker & finish in style to make it 1-0 to Redby after 19 minutes. We were playing exactly how i had asked, with Pattison just sitting in, mopping up everything, & playing the easy ball to Huntley or to the wingers. Hargrave was dropping in & causing Gateshead problems, as they couldn't mark him, & Nichol was holding the ball up well, then playing in his players, which was pleasing on the eye. Nichol then made it two on the half hour, beating his player, seeing a gap & placing the ball through four players, much to the delight of the Redby players & support, who had turned out in great numbers once again.
Gateshead had a good ten minute spell, but we held well, with Martin & Slocombe outstanding in keeping quiet there danger man, & we weathered the storm, going into the break 2-0 up.
Half Time :
Gateshead 0 - 2 Redby
With Thompson struggling in the late stages of the first half, he was replaced at the break by Winlow, who went wide right, & was told to double up on the Gateshead winger, with right back Sanderson, & once again this job was done impecably. As we said at the break, Gateshead would come out all guns blazing to get a foothhold back in the game, but once again we defended to a man, from Nichol up front, to Williamson in goal, & we started to run the show again, playing some great stuff. Then came the turning point in the game on 65 minutes, when Martin beat his man, played a one -two & burst out of midfield into the opposistion half, finding Nichol, who played him back in, then Martin once again played Nichol in,  ( It was like watching Barcelona )  who finished the same way that i have seen so many times over the years, to make it 3-0 to the lads, & there seemed no coming back for the premier league winners.
They continued launching the ball into our area, but Williamson won everything, with his handling & distribution superb, & the back four were solid throughout. Chicquel made way on 75 minutes for Stoker, after a brilliant performance, with his non stop running, both attacking & his defensive work, again like he has done all season. Captain 'Marvel' Martin then cramped up in both legs, after a full on battle with the Gateshead forward throughout, & he was replaced by Hubbard, as we saw the game out, & finished the game worthy winners, with a 3-0 victory.
As you will see by the markings, i gave every player 10 out of 10 for tonights performances, as they gave 110% out there tonight, giving by far there best performance of the season. It was hard to give a m.o.m, but i opted for Andy Slocombe, who was imense in a posistion he has never played for me, so from a personal point of view, i was over the moon, as the banners would have been out for my head otherwise !!
As i mentioned, every player from 1 - 14 gave there all, & gave both Me, & my coaching staff, Ian & Paul, a great send off, as that was my last game in charge of this age group, & im sure that gave the lads a new found impatus to finish there Redby careers with a trophy, & everlasting memories.
Brilliant night, topped off by a another winners trophy. Well done lads.
Note : There's also a full write up on the Latest News section, plus photo's in the photo gallery
FULL TIME:
GATESHEAD F.C  0 - 3 REDBY C.A
Scorers: Chicquel, Nichol (2)
m.o.m  Slocombe