Well done to the all the Island School boys who played: Aaron Stanyard, Mark Swainston, Rory Lonergan, George Wyatt, Michael Slavin, Ben Sargant and Robbie Stamp, who scored the first goal.
This is Jim's report:
Wednesday 13th April 2011, saw this seasons ESF Representative U13 squad compete against the Hong Kong Football Association U13 team at Kowloon Tsai Sports Ground.
The players selected to represent ESF were all born in 1998 or 1999 (with 2 born in 1997) and had been nominated by their ESF High School
From the previous match against Hong Kong in December, the ESF squad had lost influential Captain Tiger Mertens, as well as four other members of the squad, so for some players it was their debut for the representative squad against Hong Kong .
The taller and physically stronger Hong Kong team started the game looking composed and expecting to push forward at every opportunity, showing good quality on the ball, which, as in the previous game, meant the ESF team spending the first ten minutes chasing the ball around, so it was a bit of a surprise when, with our first real attack, Robbie Stamp (IS) put ESF one nil up after converting a chance made from a through ball.
Following the goal, the Hong Kong team, despite being considerably bigger than the ESF players, struggled to gain a real foothold in the game, with the result being the match being played in the middle of the park, with little goalmouth action, but what there was bought two great saves from the ESF goalkeeper Daniel Tjong (SIS), one of our two 97 players.
When the Hong Kong team did manage to get the ball forward, the ESF defence of Sam Down (KGV), Michael Slavin (IS), Ben Sargeant (IS) and George Wyatt (IS), always had enough quality and pace to deal with any threat.
After thirty minutes, coach Jim Hackett started making changes to the playing line up, with Isaac Kam (STC) and Felipe Roberston (ESF Lions) coming on in place of Rory Lonergan (IS) and Robbie Stamp (IS). At the same time, Hong Kong changed their whole team, which meant our players who had worked hard in the first period had to keep their efforts high to deal with the fresh players, and our midfield players Ollie Laxton (KGV), Jake Smith (KGV) and Mark Swainston (IS) kept operating at maximum in order to deal with their counterparts. Unfortunately, right at the end of the second period, Hong Kong, having never looked liked scoring managed to capatilise on a rare mistake by our defence and in the fading light, their strikers shot entered our net, so it was one each going into the final period.
With other changes taking place, which allowed Aaron Stanyard (IS) to make his debut, the majority of the game continued to be played in the middle of the park, where constant tinkering with players, in order to keep the energy levels going and ensure everyone made a telling contribution, meant that there was little cohesion from either side and it was during this period that Hong Kong took the lead with another opportunist goal that came from a defensive slip.
At this point, ESF would have been expected to drop their heads and give in to the obvious tiredness, however, the goal seemed to rejuvenate the squad, (and parents), and with 10 minutes left, the ESF players began to lay siege to the Hong Kong goal, with two excellent chances being missed, and just when it appeared the game had gone the way of Hong Kong, a superb through ball from Mark Swainston put Josh Edwards in with a shooting chance, which Josh converted, much to the delight of all the players and parents of the ESF squad.
From the restart, the referee allowed the first kick, then blew his whistle for full time, meaning the game ended up at two goals each. Probably a fair result when assessing the whole 90 minutes.
Following the game, Coaches Jim Hackett, Amro Abbas and James Daws were full of praise for all the players, highlighting the performance, energy and team spirit above the result, as it was these factors that led to the result.
There then followed the opportunity for the large following of parents to take photographs and enjoy the result with the players.
The ESF Representative U13 Squad for this match was made up of the following players:
Michael Slavin
Ben Sargeant
Mark Swainston
Robbie Stamp
George Wyatt
Rory Lonergan
Aaron Stanyard
Joe Heaton
Isaac Kam
KGV:
Jake Smith
Ollie Laxton
Sam Down
Josh Edwards
Daniel Tjong
ESF Lions:
Felipe Robertson "
