England U17’s 7 v 11 HBU (2)
Time: 20.00: Date: 6th March 10: Location: Soham
At the same time that HBU (1) were facing Grimsby at the pier, HBU (2) were facing the England U17’s at Soham. United travelled to the match with only 1 sub as work & holiday commitments ruled out over half the players. Despite the weakened side the HBU veterans were determined to make it 2 wins out of 3 since their emergency call up to fulfill the Premier league fixtures of HBU (CSL) who walked out earlier in the season.
United went 0-1 up after only 22 seconds, Phil McVey found Nigel Mills in England’s penalty area whose first time finish found the back of the net. United’s joy was short lived as the England U17’s equalised 35 seconds later. The youngsters then proceeded to dominate the play, scoring 3 more unanswered goals to go 4-1 up with 5 minutes left in the half. United still appeared to be extremely rusty, but through sheer determination they pulled the score back to 4-4 at halftime with 2 goals from Paul McVey and another from Mills.
2 minutes into the second half England went 5-4 up and now believed they could go on and win the game. The Champions of yesteryear though were not going to give the game up, using all of their considerable experience levelled the game through Paul McVey with 18 minutes remaining. The momentum was now with the veteran side, they pulled ahead with 3 unanswered goals, 2 from Phil McVey and 1 from Nick Barton to make the score 5-8 with 7 minutes remaining. The game was now effectively over, and although the England U17’s did manage to score 2 more, United never let the 3 goal cushion go, and in the end ran out comfortable winners 7-11.
Following the game England manager Carlos Amaral said: “This was a good test for my players. Although HBU are slow, they play with their heads, they use their experience to keep the ball and create chances, they are not to be under estimated. My players have learnt a lot from tonight’s game, this can only be good for England.”
47 year old Nigel Mills said: “We are pleased with the win, this young England side shows great promise, at times they had us under real pressure and we had to use all of our experience to get the victory. It’s amazing to think we had already won the Premier League 3 years in a row before any of them had even been born.”
Having just received word from the pier that HBU (1) had defeated Grimsby 9-5 to go top of the PremierLeague, United’s Club Coach Phil McVey added: “I am thrilled with both results, unfortunately I cannot be in 2 places at once, so I was desperate for news of the 1st team the moment this game finished. The Grimsby match was a must win game if HBU (1) are to secure the title again, to carry on the legacy which began with us veterans, who won the Premier League for the 1st time all those years ago. It’s just a shame for the veterans that the CSL players who walked out, didn’t go earlier the season, they lost the first 3 games of the season before walking out. If they had gone sooner HBU might be sitting 1st & 2nd in the League. Mind you with everyone beating everyone, it’s possible we can make 1st & 3rd place.”
Team: Jason Robertson (GK), Paul Mcvey (3); Nigel Mills (5); Phil McVey (2), Nick Barton (1), Jon Barton
Phil McVey
