On Tuesday 29th September NCF Elites U14s welcomed West Ham Elite Performance U14s Team to our home at Knights Templar Sports Centre.

The match was organised to be played in 3 periods of 30 minutes. NCF Elites were offering 4 debuts to goal keeper Noah Walters. Right back Skye Thorne Springer, Josh Medina Silva & Nicholas Demetriou. We were also delighted to welcome back Zac Hooper following his injury that kept him out of the squad that travelled to Germany.

Following a short sharp warm-up the match kicked off. It was clear from the opening exchanges that this would be a keenly contested fixture. NCF Elites started off a little nervous and at times uncharacteristically gave the ball away cheaply with West Ham arguably settling in to the match a little quicker. However the Elites midfield orchestrated by Teddy begun to get hold of the match with Austin showing his ability to get on the ball and break lines. Captain Max was marshalling the defence well alongside Ciaran. It was a period of few chances but West Ham took the lead with a well taken finish beating Noah in the top left hand corner. However huge credit must go to Noah in goal for a fantastic save low down to his left to keep the it at 1 nil. NCF created a few chances but were unable to bring the score level.

Co-manager Nick & Carl made a few changes for the 2nd period and the match was underway. Again it was a tight battle in midfield but NCF were now clearly on top but unable to push home their advantage. A dipping left foot strike from Blake just went wide. Teddy dragged one across the face of the goal and Austin couldn’t connect cleanly enough but forced their keeper in to a good save low down to his left. At this point it looked like it might be one of those days. 2nd period finished and West Ham were still 1 nil up.

Before the start of the 3rd period managers Carl and Nick gave the team a bit of talking to. Body language was looking like we had already been beaten. The message was to continue to trust in each other, be brave in possession and it will come. An adjustment to the shape saw us move to a 3-4-1-2. The whistle blew and NCF came out the traps like a thorough bred greyhound chasing a hare. We hunted West Ham down won the ball high and were clinical in our finishing. The equaliser came from Zion cutting in from the left and cleverly beating the keeper on his near post. It was then over to debutant Skye finishing a well controlled half volley from a cracking diagonal ball from Freddie. Blake’s perseverance made it 3 after chasing the keeper down and deflecting his pass in to the goal. Blake then got his 2nd with a bit of Blake magic. He faced the defender up, dropped a shoulder, created a yard then hit a great strike from the edge of the box that went in off the bar. Captain Max who had been rampaging in the 3rd period then also got in on the act. Hitting a 30 rd strike that deceived the keeper and went in off the post. It was left to Blake to get his 3rd and our 6th with a well taken finish.

 Co-manager Nick said –

This was a really competitive match for the boys against strong opposition. Development comes in so many different forms and this was one to test the players resolve and ability to keep believing when things are not always going your way. They stuck together continued to play their football and got their rewards. A pleasing first match back following the disappointment of losing the LAOLA Cup final on penalties. We now build for the DANA CUP in 2024.

MOTM voted by the players – Blake

MOTM voted by Carl – Austin

MOTM voted by Nick – Teddy

Elites Squad

Noah Walters GK Essex Ciaran Maduro Moore Essex. Skye Thorne Springer Essex. Freddie Harris Essex

Austin Knowles Essex. Max Gardner Essex. Teddy Gravette Essex

Zac Hooper Middx. Jack Barker Middx. Zion Richards Middx Nicholas Demetriou Middx

Blake Norton Herts Alfie Pennington Herts Josh Medina Silva.

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