On Friday 29th March our Elites boys travelled to the famous Hale End Sports Ground, the home of Arsenal’s Football Academy. It was our second visit in the space of 6 weeks. This was going to be an exciting experience for the boys, not only the chance to compete against Arsenal but also having Elites Director Jack Wilshere alongside them assisting Nick managing the team.

Jack said ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing the boys in action. This will be my first time of watching them in a competitive match since becoming a Director’.

Following a good warm up, the Elites boys took to the pitch and immediately showed they were not out of their depth. The scoring begun with a fantastic free kick from Dexter curling it in to the top corner. It was end-to-end from the off, Arsenal were stronger in possession as expected but the Elites boys were son dangerous on the counter attack with Oli causing mayhem every time he got the ball. Tristan was pulling off some outstanding saves between the sticks and distributing well to begin our attacks from defence. A special mention to Nathaniel who played left back for the first time but was exceptional both in defending and getting forward. Arsenal were technically fantastic and were continually testing our back line that Max was marshalling well.

We were all privileged to witness some outstanding build up play from both teams and goals were flying in from both ends. Young Oli ended up scoring 4 and Dexter also got 4, however both players were backed up some outstanding goalkeeping and defending. This was a real test for our boys and they did not let themselves down matching Arsenal stride for stride.

Elites Director & Manager said ‘Player’s come to our Elites set-up and come alive, it was great to see our boys play Arsenal with no fear. Yes we made mistakes but this is to be expected. Our message is not to fear making a mistake but to impose yourself in these fixtures. Myself, Nic & Jack were delighted with how the boys played as a unit’.

Can we take this opportunity to once again thank Arsenal for welcoming us with open arms’s and making us so welcome. We look forward to playing you guys again in the near future.