Bilton Ajax shines bright with an 8-0 victory over Long Lawford U11 in pre-season friendly

My name is Tejiri Sefia and I’m 17. I'm on work experience with the Rugby Advertiser. I have a strong interest in football and sports in general

Match: Long Lawford U11 vs Bilton Ajax U11

Final Score: Long Lawford 0 - 8 Bilton Ajax

[Match Overview]

A Pre-season Friendly between the newly formed 9-a-side Long Lawford team against the established and solid Bilton Ajax ended with an emphatic victory for Ajax by a hefty margin, a scoreline reading 8-0. It was a dominant performance from Bilton Ajax, showcasing their superiority on the field and a learning curve for the young Lawford boys who showed determination, tenacity, and grit till the final whistle.

[Tactical Analysis]

Bilton Ajax's lineup boasted what looked to be a 3-2-3 and a high press with a defender roaming into the midfield to overwhelm their opposition. This tactical lineup with an overload into the midfield was key to them retaining possession pushing forward and having a high success rate in the final third.

Long Lawford mirrored this lineup with their own 3-2-3 utilising a deep line of defence to launch long balls out wide or to initiate fast break counters against their opponents which were unfortunate to have not converted into goals.

As a new and learning team, Long Lawford did well to hold their own within the midfield when possible, attempting some good passing play to retain possession but ultimately, were inundated by the overload of players in the Bilton midfield. Where this led to an influx of easy interceptions for Ajax, it led to a change in tactics as stated earlier for Lawford - seeing them utilise long balls for fast counters in turn allowing them the see some more action at the opposing end of the field.

Man of the Match:

Bilton #12 - An electric performance from Bilton's #12 getting two goals to his name in this match. He displayed strength in the midfield and good ball control to dribble and muscle his way through Lawford's defence, topping it all off with a string of calm and collected passes and finishes in the final third.

Noteworthy Performances: Lawford #1 and Bilton #39 -

The two demanded respect in their positions and do not let the scoreline fool you. A collation of strong saves and good distribution from the back helped give Lawford something to look forward to in an attacking sense and helped the squad walk into the second half only 0-3 down with the hope to launch a comeback. Though unfortunate by the end of the game, Lawford's goalkeeper in the first half was strong and had a reliable performance.

Similarly, for Bilton's #39 in the midfield. He capped an amazing performance by executing a flurry of beautiful runs and passes full of confidence in his stride. He took on players with no doubt in his ability with a high success rate in his dribbles - a key factor to the control Bilton Ajax had in the midfield.

[Key Moments]

Opening Goal: The opening goal came from good defence from Lawford which enabled them with an opportunity to counter which they did not convert allowing Bilton Ajax to break away with their own counter as Bilton's #7 skips past his defender and calmly nutmegs the goalkeeper 9 minutes in. 0-1.

[Goal Fest]

A good run from Lawford's #14 is unfortunately intercepted by Bilton's #12 who bursts down the left flank, taking on 4 players in the sequence and slotting it past the keeper to the far side 12 mins in. 0-2.

A loose ball from a Lawford freekick turned into a fast break with Bilton's #12 running through the defence again and placing it past the keeper with the outside of his boot 21 mins in. 0-3.

Half Time.

Ball played in from a cross and landed at the feet of Bilton's #8, smashed into the top corner 35 mins in. 0-4.

Ball is parried strongly by the keeper and is unlucky to not find a teammate but instead lands outside the box with Bilton's #10 who chips it over the back line trying to regather themselves into the overstretched path of Bilton's #8 pushing it into the net 39 mins - Hallandesque. 0-5.

Ball is played out from Bilton's #5 from the halfway line into the run of Bilton's #8 who calmly slotted it in past the keeper 42 mins in. 0-6.

A foul from Lawford's #12 near the corner flag leads to a freekick and after the ball in, a scruffy shot 43 mins in. 0-7.

Ball played across the right-hand flank from Bilton's #7 into #8. Passed towards Bilton's #3 his shot is saved but the ball fizzles back out and is tapped into the back of the net by Bilton's #3. 0-8.

Game over.

[Missed opportunities]

A couple of unfortunate moments for Long Lawford’s boys with one early on. A high press from Bilton allowed Lawford to sit deep, pick up the ball and explode into a fast break down the right with Lawford’s #9 getting an early shot on target 5 mins in.

Lawford replied quickly to Bilton’s first goal, pushing their backline forwards after the restart, and breaking into the final third on the left with Lawford’s #12 who fizzes the ball low and hard into the box unfortunately sliding past all the players across the field and out for a throw 10 mins in.

A key moment for Lawford’s goalkeeper after parrying a long shot from Bilton’s #7 back into #7’s feet who plays a sharp through ball into #3 shooting the ball but Lawford’s #1 stops the ball near post, putting it out for a corner.

The ball is headed out by Lawford’s #5 which is picked up by Bilton’s #39 who strides through the midfield and defence taking a shot near post which is again saved by Lawford’s keeper just before halftime.

[Post Match interview]

Tejiri Sefia [Reporter]: “Unfortunate to not secure the win in this pre-season friendly, what are your feelings after the game?

Christa [Long Lawford Coach]: “Um, it’s difficult because I think they played very well but as they’re still learning an awful lot, they’ve got a lot to go but they tried hard.”

Tejiri Sefia [Reporter]: “How do you feel you will be approaching the next game from a defensive standpoint?”Christa [Long Lawford Coach]: “Um, getting the defence to push forward certainly because they were playing a really deep line.”

Tejiri Sefia [Reporter]: “Good win in the pre-season to boost morale, how did you feel about today’s performance?”

[Bilton Coach]: “Thought it was a good performance from our boys today, the Bilton boys. Both teams played good football. Bilton were the stronger team, it was evident from that, um and they played some good stuff. Good goals, playing from the back and through the midfield and on the attack, I was really pleased with what they did today.”

Tejiri Sefia [Reporter]: “Nice of you to mention the midfield, I felt that #12, #7 and #39 were solid, had some strong runs and I was wondering how you felt about their performances today?”[Bilton Coach]: “Yeah good performances again from those players, they are strong players in this type of league at the grassroots level and they played really well, commanding box to box and getting back when they needed to using their space well on the counter.”

[Conclusion]Though a tough and unfortunate loss for the Long Lawford boys not getting the upset they hoped for, they have gained experience and capped a good performance for a newly built team. I am certain they will be taking this defeat and turning it into fuel to improve in future games. As for the Bilton Ajax boys, their seasoned experience was on display for all to see, exploding early on and maintaining the rhythm they found. A masterful performance from a well-oiled team