As a forerunner to the afternoon Premier League Fixture the under 9 teams of Marston and Harwell played out two games worthy of a place on the Match of the Day schedule. In game one Marston Saints led by two goals with around ten minutes to go before a spirited fight back by Harwell and Hendred saw them take all three points.

Marston Saints came out extremely strongly in the first half and put Harwell under a lot of pressure. Marston continued to try and play a good level of football with the ball on the floor and attempting to pass at a quick pace. Aleks Novakovic again laid the foundations at the back with George Hawkswood and both were able to break forward to support the midfield as Harwell were pushed back. The pressure began to mount and eventually Marston was able to benefit with a goal, following some interplay between Isaac and Luca Erdbeer the ball broke in the box for Luke Barney to slot home. Femi Adeweye had a particularly strong game from the right side of midfield and will have felt unfortunate not to have scored. Credit though must be given to Harwell for their disciplined defending that ensured the score remained at 1-0 by the time of the half time whistle. At the start of the second half there were some changes in personnel for Marston but again the team came out and pushed for a second goal. Following a break on the left side Joseph Oates played the ball forward and Marston forced a corner. From the ensuing corner Jed Fawke was able to maintain his recent goals coring record and volleyed home to give Marston a two goal lead.

Harwell however came back giving great heart to their travelling support. Marston’s defensive line was breached and Samuel Racz had to make a good save at his near post. The quality of the shot should have been a warning to Marston. Following a foul committed on the angle of the penalty box Jake Moss fired in a direct free kick over the Marston wall and into the far corner of the net. This capped a great performance throughout the game by Jake. Not to be outdone Conner Keen was able to bend a free kick from five yards outside the box in off the left hand post. Un-stoppable and both goals were of the highest quality. The game looked likely to finish 2-2 and potentially was a fair result but Harwell continued to pour forward with their momentum and won a penalty following some good work down their right hand side. Again Conner Keen stepped up to fire hard and low to the keeper’s right and to claim the spoils for Harwell.

Both sides played out a fantastic game with the ball passed on the floor throughout though clearly a lesson for Marston to learn from giving free kicks away! The quality of the game continued into match 2.

Harwell and Hendred ran out winners 4-1 in the second game. The second match was again of a good standard and on this occasion Harwell was able to get on the front foot a little quicker and took a two goal lead early on. Marston continued to push with Alfie Beer working hard with the service he had coming from behind to try and get Marston back into the game. In goal Jack McEwan helped to keep the score down as Harwell looked to increase their lead, whilst Josh, Mark and Constantine Nemerotskaia had their usually strong and committed games in defence and midfield respectively. Man of the match for Marston however in game 2 through a stand out performance was George Wickson. Playing in defence George was end to end and scored one of those goals on Saturday that made you say ‘I was there’. Marston broke down the right side and played the ball through to George who moved forward and saw off a couple of tackles before firing left footed from long range into the roof of the net. The celebration was almost as memorable as the goal.

Overall a great morning of football and of a high quality that would suggest these teams will have a strong second half of the season.